This year’s Dennis Schantzenbach Lehigh Valley Field Hockey Officials Chapter award-winner was Palisades’ Ashley Volpe.

This year there were nine nominations from the following schools: Olivia Schlofer, Catasauqua; Katie Ballew, Easton; Alicia Cooperman, Emmaus; Sophia Kitch-Peck, Liberty; Katie Wasilko, Northampton; Claire Mulligan, Notre Dame (played for Moravian Academy); Ashley Volpe, Palisades; Dana Evans - Pen Argyl and Samantha Tepper, Stroudsburg.

This year there were numerous firsts with respect to the nominations and the winner. The nominations were the highest since naming the award after Dennis Schantzenbach.

There was also a nomination for a player who does not have a team at her high school, but was allowed to play for Moravian Academy. Head coach Debbie Bross nominated her player from Notre Dame HS, Claire Mulligan, as her top senior player for this award.

Ashley Volpe from Palisades has the highest SAT score of any girl ever nominated for this award. She has a SAT score of 2,240 out of a possible 2,400, only 160 points away from a perfect score. Volpe also had the most AP courses, seven, ever taken by any nominee, plus, attends Lafayette College for four other courses. She is also is an AP Scholar Award Honor winner in AP Program Examinations, another first.

She also plays two other sports, track and field and softball.

Volpe also finds time to volunteer for eight different community enriched programs. The most notable is as Hepatitis B Foundation Intern, where she received a Recognition of Achievement from the Science Enrichment Foundation Program.

Volpe still needs to decide on her college of choice, which will be a school with an accelerated dual degree pharmacy program. She would like to attain a Doctor of Pharmacy degree with a master’s in business administration.

The Chapter of Lehigh Valley Officials is proud of her achievements and wishes her the best in years to come. Volple’s award will be a plaque in her honor and a $500 check from the chapter.