Amanda Simmons

Class:
Senior
High School:
Hawai'i
Hometown:
Des Plaines, Ill.

2009: Amanda Simmons played in 53 matches and had 52 kills and hit .191 with five aces and 44 total blocks. She totaled 10 kills against Toledo on Sept. 12. She recorded six digs against Villanova on Sept. 27 and against Pittsburgh on Oct. 4. Her season high in service aces was two against Villanova. Simmons had seven total blocks against Toledo and she was named a Muhammad Ali Scholar. She spent part of her summer in Ghana doing research with the Ali Scholars.

2008: Amanda transferred to Louisville from Hawai'i. As a Wahine, she started one match at middle hitter, playing in 10 total matches. She had two kills and a block vs. St. Mary's and had two kills and three blocks vs. Wyoming.

2007: At Hawai'i, Amanda played in 14 matches as a middle hitter and averaged 0.75 kills and 0.31 blocks per game. She had two kills, two digs and an ace vs. Oregon State. Amanda hit .667 with five kills vs. Eastern Washington. As a part of the National Team, she played on the U.S. Junior National A2 Team in the summer of 2007.

High School: A 2007 graduate of Elk Grove High School in Illinois, she lettered two years in volleyball and was named the No. 57 top senior on the prepvolleyball.com Senior Aces list. She was named to the Volleyball Magazine Fab-50 list and was on the honor roll and a member of the National Honor Society. Amanda won the 2007 President's Award for Educational Excellence and also played for Club Fusion.

Personal: Daughter of Evelyn Simmons. Born Dec. 30, 1988. Major is psychology and English.

Favorites: Volleyball player: Lecia Brown, Movies: Phantom of the Opera, Little Mermaid; Book: Too Blessed to be Stressed; Class: Psychology; Food: Carbohydrates Hobbies: Knitting, crocheting, cooking; TV Show: Lifetime Channel, Pre-match superstition: Brushes teeth; Person with the greatest influence on her athletic career: Mike Gattone; Person she'd most like to meet: Herself in ten years; Words that describe her: Nerdy, silly, driven; Chose U of L because: she saw great opportunities and wonderful possibilities within a great community and athletic department; If she won the lottery she would: Buy her mom a house and pay all the bills.