Six outgoing Central/Midwest Region volleyball players have made the initial list of contenders for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Among the 455 student-athletes across all divisions and sports vying for the award are: Washington-St. Louis setter Marilee Fisher; Maranatha Baptist Bible outside Torey DeLozier; Wartburg outside Britlyn Sieck; Edgewood outside Mallory Palmer; St. Thomas libero Kaiti Wachter; and Dominican setter Jessica Guerrieri.
From the release: The Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Fisher was a four-time All-American, a starter on the 2009 national title squad, and led her teams to a 134-14 career record.
DeLozier twice led the nation in kills and points per set and was a two-time Northern Athletics Conference Player of the Year.
Sieck was a four-time first-team all-Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honoree and played in a program record 143 matches.
Palmer was a four-time first-team all-Northern Athletics Conference selection and was named the 2012 NAC Player of the Year.
Wachter ended her career ranked 12th all-time in career D-III digs and helped lead her team to the 2012 national championship.
Guerrieri was a two-time All-Northern Athletics Conference honoree.
Of the 455 total nominees, 151 played Division III sports. Each NCAA institution is encouraged to nominate one or two student-athletes for the Woman of the Year award. Each NCAA conference will select one or two nominees from the initial list for consideration by the national selection committee, which will announce 10 top honorees for each of the three divisions. Three from each division will then be named finalists for Woman of the Year in September. The top 30 nominees will be honored – and the one national winner will be announced – at a ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 20.
-Ricky Nelson
