Dave Reed, associate director of athletic media relations at Colorado College, received some much-deserved recognition this week for his many years of hard work behind the scenes.

Reed has been selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as recipient of its prestigious Grant Burger Media Award for the 2009- 2010 academic year.

The annual award honors members of the media who have been involved in the advancement of the sport of volleyball, whether it be through consistent coverage in all mediums (sports information, print, broadcasting and web content), production of volleyball-specific publications or extensive radio and/or television exposure.

It is named in honor of Grant Burger, former SID and associate director of the AVCA (1988-92), whose hard work, innovative mind, knowledge and enthusiasm took the association's media relations and publications areas to a higher level and increased awareness of the sport of volleyball nationwide.

Previous winners include Jen Armson (Penn State University), Heather Cox (ESPN), Rich Kern (RichKern.com), Diane Nordstrom (University of Wisconsin), Michael Sondheimer (UCLA) and Jeff Schwartz (North Dakota State University), the inaugural recipient in 1997.

Reed, a member of CC's staff since 1999, is the primary contact for all 15 of the Tigers' NCAA Division III programs, including volleyball, while also serving as a primary overseer of the athletics website with Dave Moross, director of athletic media relations.

“Dave's contributions to Colorado College athletics have been invaluable for more than a decade,” Moross said. “His work with volleyball, the sport that he probably loves the most, is exemplary year after year as he goes far beyond the call of duty. He's a great choice for the Grant Burger Award, and I'm very proud and happy on his behalf.”

Reed also has been the public address announcer Tiger Volleyball for the last 10 years and was behind the microphone when the U.S. Women's National Team played host to top-ranked Brazil in a three-match series that proved to be a preview of the Gold Medal showdown at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

“This is a great and well deserved honor for Dave,” said Rick Swan, head volleyball coach at CC. “He has given countless hours behind the scenes to help make our volleyball program as professional as it can be. From sending out press releases, running our stats program, helping with our tournaments and even being our announcer, Dave has done it all. He has been a great asset to our program and we are very proud that the AVCA has honored him with the Grant Burger Media Award."

In addition to his sports information duties at Colorado College, Reed writes a regular national NCAA Division I volleyball column for ESPN.com. His weekly columns showcase not only the elite programs in the country, such as his entries in 2009 featuring programs by the likes of Penn State and Texas, but also shine a light on smaller programs such as Tulane and UC Irvine.

"In our quest to make volleyball a mainstream sport, voices like Dave's are critically important," said Kathy DeBoer, AVCA executive director "His writing makes our sport interesting and accessible to the general sports fan who may not yet have discovered our passion."

Before his days at Colorado College, Reed served in athletic media relations at the University of Dayton (1989–91), The Ohio State University (1992–93) and the University of Notre Dame (1993–96). He has held the role as media coordinator for several Big East, Midwestern Collegiate Conference and NCAA Division I championships.

Reed left Notre Dame in 1996 to join the staff at USA TODAY.com, where he served as a content editor/stringer manager for three years. He was part of an 11-member team that specialized in the coverage of collegiate athletics, with an emphasis on basketball, football, ice hockey and volleyball.

During his tenure at USA TODAY.com, Reed was one of the first to compile a nightly Top 25 scoreboard for Division I women's volleyball.

A native of Piqua, Ohio, Reed graduated in 1991 from University of Dayton with a degree in communications. He and his wife, Gerri Anne, were married in May 2005 and are the parents of a son, Jackson.