Cal State Fullerton's Haley Brown and Petra Melounova of Hawai'i have been selected to represent The Big West as conference-level nominees for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year 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. 
 

Cal State Fullerton's 2020 Big West Women's Scholar Athlete of the Year, Brown boasts a near-perfect grade-point average 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 assistant 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. 
 

"The past four years as a student-athlete at California State Fullerton has influenced my life by shaping me into a strong, dedicated, and passionate member of the community," noted Brown. "I am incredibly grateful for the community service opportunities that I had because of my status as a student-athlete.  
 

"Each day, I am passionate and energetic as I do not take my status as a student-athlete for granted. I have developed a greater understanding of the hard work and pressure that student-athletes face. Therefore, I am honored to be nominated for this because of the accomplishments and dedication that my fellow nominees have endured. Also, as a student-athlete, I understand the intensity of managing athletics, academics, and community service. This program taught me to put my head down and find the grit to complete tasks that might come my way both on the field and in life." 
 

Brown is returning to the Titans for a fifth season and will graduate in Fall 2021 with a degree in child and adolescent development and minors in sociology and literary education. 
 

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. She 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 while she pursued her degree in electrical engineering. In the community, she  participated in 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. 
 

"I learned what it truly means to be a part of something bigger than myself," explained Melounova on her collegiate experience in The Big West at UH. "When I first came to the U.S., I was an individual who had great tennis skills, but most of my tennis career has been very self-centered. It was during my time at the University of Hawaii that I truly learned the sense of community; I began to take pride in representing the program in everyday life. Most of the successful moments in my college career can be attributed to that; my main drive to compete was to make the people who care for our tennis program proud, it was not for myself anymore." 
 

She fought a shoulder injury beginning in the Fall of 2018, which altered her serve and caused her challenges for the remainder of her time on the court. Her drive to fight to play the sport she loved was a personal one. 

"Where did I learn to fight? My dad," she reflected. "We lost him that summer in 2018. Although it was mostly my mom who I am thankful to play tennis on this level, it was my dad who taught me this great life lesson. He battled ALS for about 10 years; although he was losing, he never stopped fighting. It was hard on him, yet he stayed strong. At some point, life is going to throw obstacles our way. Thanks to my dad, I realized I always have a choice and if everything else fails, I still have that fight left." 
 

The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the 154 conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September. 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 then will choose the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year. Read more from the NCAA >>> 
 

About The Big West  
The Big West is an NCAA Division I member with 11 members with the shared goal of empowering every student-athlete in competition and in life and uniting its university communities through championship experiences. Formed in 1969, The Big West membership consists of Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. The Big West is united in the pursuit of boundless opportunities, enduring integrity, bold activism, fearless innovation and the pacific spirit of freedom, exploration and progress.   
  
The Big West sponsors 18 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, women's beach volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field and women's water polo.   

For more information, visit BigWest.org or follow The Big West on Twitter @BigWestSports.