NCAA Release

Eight Big West student-athletes from seven member institutions have been nominated for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year award, announced the NCAA on Thursday.

NCAA member schools nominated 535 female student-athlete for the award. Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

The nominees competed in 24 sports across all three NCAA divisions, including 251 nominees from Division I, 107 from Division II and 177 from Division III.

The Big West nominees are as follows:
 

Name	Institution	Sport
Vanessa Austin	CSU Bakersfield	Basketball
Renata Bath	UC Riverside	Indoor Volleyball
Haley Brown	Cal State Fullerton	Soccer
Emily Hansen	CSU Bakersfield	Indoor & Beach Volleyball
Sherriah Harrington	UC San Diego	Softball
Sydney Holmes	UC Davis	Track & Field
Petra Melounova	Hawai‘i	Tennis
Brianna Villanueva	UC Irvine	Track & Field

            
2021 BIG WEST NOMINEES FOR NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR

VANESSA AUSTIN • CSU BAKERSFIELD • BASKETBALL
A Kinesiology major and center on the CSU Bakersfield basketball team, Austin has volunteered for a number of organizations, including the Ronald McDonald House, Bakersfield Homeless Shelter and Special Olympics. She also served as the Vice President of the CSUB Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and as a member of the Big West’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and SAAC Committees. As part of the Big West SAAC group, Austin contributed to a pair of important initiatives centered on voting and mental health awareness.

RENATA BATH • UC RIVERSIDE • INDOOR VOLLEYBALL
Bath graduated Cum Laude as a Biology major from UC Riverside after being the starting libero for the women’s volleyball squad. A native of Brazil, Bath came to the United States to impact people. She has worked toward that goal as a volunteer in Bali, Indonesia, helping teach health care practices to children. Bath also has taught club volleyball, imparting her knowledge of the sport and the life lessons attained through competition. She is now looking ahead to attending medical school and aspires to become a doctor.

HALEY BROWN • CAL STATE FULLERTON • SOCCER
Cal State Fullerton’s 2020 Big West Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year, Brown boasts a near perfect GPA with numerous academic and athletic accolades. As a midfielder on the Titan women’s soccer team, Brown was named All-Big West Second Team and earned Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors in 2019. She has been selected to the Dean’s List for the College of Health and Human Development eight times, and was the 2021 recipient of “The James Gilmore Outstanding Senior” award for the Department of Child and Adolescent Studies. The Child and Adolescent Development major is pursuing a career in research. Brown is currently a research and course assists for Research Methods in Child and Adolescent Development. Brown is also heavily invested in community involvement, having worked in a special education classroom at Mariposa Elementary School and the Junior Rangers Soccer Camp.

EMILY HANSEN • CSU BAKERSFIELD • INDOOR & BEACH VOLLEYBALL
A two-sport athlete, competing on both the CSU Bakersfield indoor and beach volleyball teams, Hansen has earned academic all-conference honors four times. She is one of just two Roadrunner beach volleyball players to earn All-Conference honors more than once, doing so in 2018 and 2021. The Bakersfield native has engaged in numerous community service efforts for organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House, Special Olympics and Toys for Tots, while also participating in National Girls & Women in Sports Day. Hansen also has given back to her community through WINGS – Women Inspiring Next Generation in Sports – an initiative in which girls from schools around the county visit the CSUB campus to hang out and play with members of each women’s sport.

SHERRIAH HARRINGTON • UC SAN DIEGO • SOFTBALL
The 2021 UC San Diego Most Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete, Harrington concluded her inaugural Division I season with honorable mention all-conference distinction. She helped guide the Tritons to a fourth place finish in the Big West and finished her UCSD career No. 7 in batting average, No. 6 in home runs and tied for No. 8 in RBIs. A Human Biology major, Harrington also excels in the classroom as she was named a 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team recipient and to the 2021 Big West Spring All-Academic Team. In addition, she has earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in 12 out of 16 quarters. Harrington enrolled in the Student National Medical Association Mentorship program through the UCSD School of Medicine and was accepted to the Palomar Pathmaker Internship Program, where she currently assists in patient care in the surgical acute care department at the Palomar Medical Center-Escondido. She also was a Team-Up volunteer at Del Mar Elementary School for four years.

SYDNEY HOLMES • UC DAVIS • TRACK & FIELD
Holmes sports a 4.0 GPA in her Master’s in Public Health program at UC Davis, where the track and field performer earned third place in the heptathlon at the Big West Championships in 2021. In 2020, Holmes earned the Mary Jeanne Gilhooly Award, annually bestowed to only one woman from the undergraduate class who is outstanding in leadership, scholarship, integrity and service in the university community. The Aggie track and field team captain in 2020-21, Holmes is a three-time Big West All-Academic Team honoree. She also founded the first ever mental health group for student-athletes at UC Davis. Entitled Athlete Guidance and Support, or AGS, the group is focused on the destigmatization of mental health, and stress relief and community building.

PETRA MELOUNOVA • HAWAI‘I • TENNIS
Melounova enjoyed a decorated tennis career at Hawai‘i that featured three Big West Player of the Year awards. The Czech Republic native became UH’s first ever Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American after advancing to the round of 16 at the 2019 NCAA Singles Championship. She also became just the 10th player in Big West history to garner first team all-conference accolades four times. Equally strong in the classroom, Melounova is a four-time Academic All-American and was named UH’s Big West Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2020 and 2021. Melounova’s success on the court occurred despite a shoulder injury which forced her to serve underhand for parts of her career. The Electrical Engineering major was a member of the VIP Microrobotics and Renewable Energy Design (RED) Lab teams at UH, and also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In the community, she also has participated for the Wahine Tennis Impact Project, an annual team clean up of local beaches, as well as the Ace to Success Tutoring Program with the Boys and Girls Club.

BRIANNA VILLANUEVA • UC IRVINE • TRACK & FIELD
Villanueva received the prestigious Big West Field Athlete of the Meet award after winning the discus event and finishing second in the hammer throw at the 2021 conference championship. She graduated from UCI ranked second in school history in the hammer (188-01) and third in the discus (165-03). She is a two-time recipient of Big West Spring All-Academic Team honors (2020 & 2021) and made the Dean’s List at UCI twice. The dual major in Public Health Policy and Education is a champion for mental health causes which she has helped further through her work as the Anteater Pledge Ambassador for COVID-19 and with Children’s Hospital LA-Virtual. Villanueva also has helped volunteer as a coach for a girls’ softball team which included her younger sister.

Next, conferences will select up to two nominees each from their pool of member school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose 10 women from each division to make up the Top 30. The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced this fall. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will choose the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year later this fall.