Tessa Dodd of Laramie the Gatorade Wyoming Volleyball POY 2024-25

Laramie junior Tessa Dodd was selected as the 2024-25 Gatorade Wyoming Volleyball Player of the Year. She is the fifth Gatorade winner selected from Laramie High School. In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company announced the award on Thursday morning via a press release to the media.

The 6-4 outside hitter had 382 kills and 289 digs last fall. She led the Plainsmen to a 32-2 record and a runner-up finish at the 4A volleyball state tournament. Dodd added 60 service aces and 32 total blocks. She was chosen the 4A Player of the Year by the Wyoming Coaches Association and earned her second all-state honor.

In the release from The Gatorade Company, Riverton High School head coach Justin Taylor provided perspective on Dodd from the 2024 season.

“Tessa Dodd was the player the other players looked up to. When they were stuck, they relied heavily on Tessa. She is intense, but also calm throughout the game.”

Dodd maintains a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. She has verbally committed to playing volleyball on a scholarship at the University of Oregon starting in the fall of 2026. Dodd has volunteered locally with the Laramie High School Hope Squad, a peer-to-peer suicide prevention group, and with the Hapi-ness 5K, which raises money for local cancer patients. She has also donated her time to multiple community service initiatives through the St. Paul’s Newman Center Catholic Youth Group.

The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court. It distinguishes Dodd as Wyoming’s best high school volleyball player. She is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.

Dodd joins fellow Laramie High School alumnae Maddy Stucky (2022-23 and 2023-24) and Alexis Stucky (2020-21 & 21-22) as recent winners of the state’s Gatorade Award.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.

Information in a release from The Gatorade Company was used in this story.