IRVINE, Calif. -- A total of 419 student-athletes who compete in the fall sports of men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, men's water polo and women’s volleyball across The Big West were honored for their work in the classroom and on the playing field as members of the 2023 Big West Fall Academic All-Conference Team. The 419 student-athletes honored is an improvement from last year’s number of 409.
 
In order to qualify for the Academic All-Conference honor, a student-athlete must carry a minimum 3.00 cumulative institutional grade point average (GPA), must have completed one full academic year at the member institution prior to the season for which the award is being received, and must have competed in at least 50 percent of the institution's contests in the student-athlete's respective sport, with the exception of cross country student-athletes. In the sport of cross country, a student-athlete must have competed in either 50 percent of the institution’s events or participated in the Conference Championship.
 
11 of the 419 student-athletes honored boast a perfect 4.00 cumulative GPA with Cal Poly's Emily Lieber (women's soccer), Cal State Bakersfield's Helena Valentic (women's cross country), Long Beach State's Julia Moore (women's soccer), Savannah Chacon (women's volleyball) and Nicole Hoff (women's volleyball), UC Irvine's Mia Colombini (women's soccer), UC San Diego's Emma Dunmire (women's cross country), Stella Gladden (women's cross country), Jenna Satovsky (women's cross country), Isabella Shepherd (women's cross country) and Brendon Fezzey (men's water polo). 

By sport, women’s soccer had by far the most honorees with 126 student-athletes named to the team. Men's soccer had 84, followed by women's cross country (66), women's volleyball (56), men's cross country (45) and men's water polo (42). 
 
By school UC Irvine had the most student-athletes honored with 59. Not far behind the Anteaters was UC Davis with 56, UC San Diego with 55 and UC Santa Barbara with 53. Cal Poly (34) and UC Riverside (32) also had over 30 earn the conference’s academic accolade.
 
The Big West recognizes individuals academically per season – fall, winter, and spring – for all conference-sponsored sports. The Winter Academic All-Conference Team will honor men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes, with the Spring Academic All-Conference Team consisting of student-athletes from men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s water polo, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s volleyball, beach volleyball, softball and baseball.
 

2023 Big West Fall Academic All-Conference Team
School	Honorees
Cal Poly	34
Cal State Bakersfield	21
Cal State Fullerton	24
CSUN	29
Hawai'i	23
Long Beach State	21
Sacramento State (men's soccer only)	12
UC Davis	56
UC Irvine	59
UC Riverside	32
UC San Diego	55
UC Santa Barbara	53