San Antonio, Texas – November 18, 2013 – Dallas O’Connell,a junior volleyball player from Castle Hills Baptist High School in San Antonio has been selected as an AQUAS (Assistance for Qualified Undergraduate Athletic Students) scholar athlete. Dallas will be graduating in the spring of 2015 and plans to enter college to seek her degree in graphic design.
AQUAS is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that is identifying underserved high school athletes who have demonstrated high academic performance. These students may not have received much national visibility for a number of reasons; thus college coaches are not aware of their skills. AQUAS overcomes that problem as it puts these selected students in front of collegiate athletic departments until the right academic and athletic matches are found.
Dallas O’Connell is an outstanding volleyball player that led her school team into the TAPPS playoffs. In both her freshman and sophomore years she received All District honors in TAPPS District 5 1A play. This year Dallas was named 1st team All District and played a key role in the Eagles being regional qualifiers and Bi District and Area champions. She is a standout defensive specialist, outside hitter and libero, whose back line attack opponents fear.
Dallas O’Connell is much more than just an athlete. She carries a 3.66 GPA, is an officer in the National Honor Society, a member of the Student Council and the photographer editor of he school’s yearbook. In college, Dallas plans to study graphic design but her passion is sports photography and this focused young lady will also be pursuing that with vigor. COL Hugh Mulligan, CEO of AQUAS, stated, “Dallas O’Connell is such a hard working young lady that has overcome many obstacles in her life even at her young age. She possesses the athletic prowess to play her sport at the collegiate level and also demonstrates the maturity to meet and succeed at the collegiate academic level. Raised by her mother, Norma who has instilled values in her daughter that allows Dallas to continually demonstrate respect for her teachers, coaches, teammates and even her opponents, we are fortunate to be associated with this scholar athlete of such sound character”.