Foluke Akinradewo

Foluke Atinuke Akinradewo (born October 5, 1987) is a Canadian-Nigerian-American indoor volleyball player, a member of the United States women's national volleyball team and Japanese club Hisamitsu Springs, a participant of the Olympic Games (2012, 2016), bronze medalist of the 2016 Olympic Games, 2015 World Cup, silver medalist of the 2012 Olympic Games, and a gold medalist of the 2014 World Championship and 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix.[1] She played college women's volleyball at Stanford University. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

Foluke Akinradewo
Akinradewo in 2012 with Rabita Baku
Personal information
Full name	Foluke Atinuke Akinradewo
Nationality	Canadian/American/Nigerian
Born	(1987-10-05) October 5, 1987 London, Ontario, Canada
Hometown	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb)
Spike	331 cm (130 in)
Block	300 cm (120 in)
College(s)	Stanford University
Volleyball information
Position	Middle blocker
Current club	Hisamitsu Springs
Career
Years Teams 2010–2011 2011–2012 2012–2015 2015–2017 2017–2019 TAB Queenseis Dinamo Krasnodar Rabita Baku Volero Zurich Hisamitsu Springs
National team
2003– United States
Honours Volleyball Olympic Games 2012 London Team 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team World Championship 2014 Italy Team World Cup 2011 Japan Team 2015 Japan Team World Grand Champions Cup 2017 Japan Team World Grand Prix 2010 Ningbo Team 2011 Macau Team 2015 Omaha Team 2016 Bangkok Team FIVB Nations League 2018 Nanjing Team Pan American Games 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team Pan American Cup 2010 Rosarito & Tijuana Team 2011 Ciudad Juárez Team NORCECA Championship 2011 Caguas

High school and personal life

Akinradewo was born in London, Ontario, to Ayoola and Comfort Akinradewo. Her siblings are Folu and Foluso Akinradewo. She holds a tri-citizenship with Canada, Nigeria and the United States, and used to audition for commercials when she was little.[2]

Akinradewo attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was a three-year letter winner in volleyball and was also on the basketball and track & field teams. She was an All-American selection in 2003 and 2004 and an all-state selection in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Volleyball Player of the Year in 2005. In addition to volleyball, she was an all-state selection in basketball and was a four-time Florida State Champion in track. She made her US international debut before the start of her freshman year at Stanford.[3] She helped the US win the 2004 NORCECA Continental Women’s Junior Championship, and then was the starting middle blocker on the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team at the 2005 FIVB World Championships.[3]

Stanford

Akinradewo majored in human biology at Stanford University.[4]

As a freshman in 2005, she was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific Region Freshman of the Year.[5] She was named an AVCA Second Team All-American and led the squad in hitting percentage (.397), a mark which ranked third in the Pac-10, 13th in the nation and third for a single-season in school history. In 2006, she was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to an NCAA Division I runner-up finish to Nebraska. For the year, she was named a First Team All-American by the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine.[6]

In 2007, Akinradewo was named the AVCA National Player of the Year[7] and was the Honda Sports Award winner for volleyball.[8][9][10] She broke the Pac-10 and Stanford single season hitting percentage record by more than 50 points, as she averaged .499 percentage, a mark that was first in the nation and second since rally-scoring was introduced in 2001. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to their second consecutive Division I national runner-up finish to Penn State. As a senior in 2008, Akinradewo repeated as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and got her third consecutive Honda Award nomination. She repeated as a First Team All-American and led Stanford to their third consecutive NCAA title match. She finished her collegiate career with the best career hitting efficiency (.446) of any NCAA Division I player.[3]

Club volleyball

Akinradewo joined Toyota Auto Body Queenseis in October 2010.[11][12] In the 2010–11 V.Premier League, Akinradewo was named the winner of the Spike award.[13] Akinradewo won the silver medal in the 2012 FIVB Club World Championship, playing with the Azerbaijani club Rabita Baku.[14]

In 2013 Akinradewo's club, Rabita Baku, won the Azerbaijan Super League Championship[15] winning their sixth title in a row.[16][17] She won the league's Best Spiker award.[18]

International career

2012

Akinradewo competed for Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics.[19] She earned a silver medal for her efforts.[20]

2014

Akinradewo was part of the USA national team that won the 2014 World Championship gold medal when the team defeated China 3-1 in the final match.[21][22] It was the USA's first-ever gold in any of the three major volleyball tournaments.[3]

2016

Akinradewo was part of the US bronze medal winning team at the 2016 Olympics.[3] She started all eight games. She was named in the 2016 Olympic Games Dream Team at middle blocker.[3]

Awards

Individual

• 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix "Most Valuable Player"
• 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best Blocker"
• 2010–2011 Japanese V.League "Spike Award"
• 2012-13 Azerbaijan Super League "Best Spiker"
• 2016 Olympic Games "Best Middle Blocker"
• 2016 FIVB Club World Championship "Best Middle Blocker"
• 2017-2018 Japanese V.League Division 1 "Spike Award"
• 2018-2019 Japanese V.League "Best Middle Blocker"
• 2018-2019 Japanese V.League "Most Valuable Player"

College

• Four-time AVCA All-American (2005, second team; 2006–08, first team)
• Three-time Volleyball Magazine first team All-American (2006–08)
• Four-time All-Pac-10 team (2005–08)
• Two-time NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (2006, 2007)
• 2008 – Volleyball Magazine National co-Player of the Year
• 2008 – Honda Award nominee
• 2008 – Pac-10 Player of the Year
• 2007 – AVCA National Player of the Year
• 2007 – Pac-10 Player of the Year
• 2007 – Honda Award winner for volleyball
• 2007 – NCAA Stanford Regional MVP
• 2007 – Pac-10 Player of the Week (Oct. 1)
• 2006 – Honda Award nominee
• 2005 – AVCA Pacific Region Freshman of the Year
• 2005 – Pac-10 Freshman of the Year

Clubs

• Toyota Auto Body Queenseis (2010-2011)
• Dinamo Krasnodar (2011–2012)
• Rabita Baku (2012–2015)
• Voléro Zürich (2015–2017)
• Hisamitsu Springs (2017–2019)
• Hisamitsu Springs (2020–2021)

References

1. FIVB. "USA claim third FIVB World Grand Prix title with perfect record". Retrieved 2010-08-29.
2. Getting to know Foluke Akinradewo
3. "Foluke Akinradewo". Team USA. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
4. CBS Interactive. "Foluke Akinradewo". Retrieved 2010-08-29.
5. St. Thomas Aquinas. "Raider Reflections" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-08-29.
6. Stanford places four on All-American squad
7. American Volleyball Coaches Association. "2007 AVCA All-America Teams". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
8. "2007 Division I National Player of the Year is Foluke Akinradewo". Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
9. ConferenceJan 17, Pac-12; 2008. "Stanford's Foluke Akinradewo Wins Honda Sports Award For Volleyball". Pac-12. Retrieved 2020-03-27.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. "Volleyball". CWSA. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
11. "クインシーズ｜TOYOTA AUTO BODY". 2012-07-21. Archived from the original on 2012-07-21. Retrieved 2017-05-03.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
12. Organization, Japan Volleyball League. "選手詳細 | バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト". バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-05-03.
13. Organization, Japan Volleyball League. "【お知らせ】2010/11Ｖ・プレミアリーグ個人表彰選手 | バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト". バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-05-03.
14. "Trentino Diatec and Sollys Nestle crowned in Doha". Doha, Qatar: FIVB. 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
15. "Рабита" празднует чемпионство (in Russian). Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation. 2013-04-17. Archived from the original on 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
16. ""Rabitə" ölkə çempionudur!" (in Azerbaijani). Azərbaycan QƏZETİ. 2013-04-19. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
17. ""Rabitə" ölkə çempionudur" (in Azerbaijani). Azərbaycan QƏZETİ. 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
18. "Super Liqanın "ən"ləri bəlli oldu" (in Azerbaijani). Record.az. 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
19. "Foluke Akinradewo - Volleyball - Olympic Athlete | London 2012". 2013-04-24. Archived from the original on 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2017-05-03.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
20. "Shocked Americans leave London with silver - Volleyball News | NBC Olympics". 2012-10-26. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2017-05-03.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
21. Benedetti, Valeria (2014-10-12). "Volley, Mondiale: Usa batte Cina 3-1". La Gazzetta dello sport (in Italian). Milan, Italy. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
22. "USA win first World Championship title, China and Brazil complete the podium". Milan, Italy: FIVB. 2014-05-11. Retrieved 2014-05-11.

Sources

• Akinradewo Player Bio at gostanford.com
• Akinradewo on usavolleyball.org

External links

• Foluke Akinradewo at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
• FIVB Profile

Awards
Preceded by Sheilla Castro	Most Valuable Player of FIVB World Grand Prix 2010	Succeeded by Destinee Hooker
Preceded by Fabiana Claudino	Best Blocker of FIVB World Grand Prix 2010	Succeeded by Iuliia Morozova
Preceded by First Award	Best Middle Blocker of Olympic Games 2016 (with Milena Rašić)	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Maja Poljak and Ana Carolina da Silva	Best Middle Blocker of FIVB Club World Championship 2016 (with Milena Rašić)	Succeeded by Maja Poljak and Kubra Akman