Sundararaman Up for NCAA Woman of the Year
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Former Canes volleyball standout Nrithya Sundararaman is one of two ACC nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Sundararaman joins Florida State’s Amanda Winslow as the two nominees from the ACC. A total of 455 female student-athletes were nominated for the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year award. Of those nominees, 214 participated in Division I, 90 participated in Division II and 151 participated in Division III athletics.
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.
“We are very proud of Nrithya’s achievements at the University of Miami,” Miami senior assosicate AD Jennifer Strawley said. “Beyond her success on the court, Nrithya was an accomplished scholar in the classroom, a leader in the university community and a mentor to her fellow students. She embodies everything we look for in a Miami student-athlete.”
A setter at Miami, Sundararaman graduated magna cum laude from the College of Arts and Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. The Naperville, Ill., native plans to continue her education at Baylor College of Medicine in July with the hopes of becoming a doctor.
A standout in the classroom and on the volleyball court, Sundararaman’s Miami career was filled with accolades. The senior captain earned several awards in her final season in Coral Gables.
Sundararaman was named the 2012 ACC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She also headlined the 2012 All-ACC Academic Volleyball Team and was named to the Capital One Academic All-American Second Team.
She also earned recognition as an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar in the May 24, 2012, issue of Diverse Issues in Higher Education. The award recognizes “undergraduate students of color who have made academic and athletic achievement a winning combination.”
On the court, Sundararaman led the league in assists with 10.72 per set and finished her career third in program history with 2,358. She earned honorable mention AVCA All-America, All-ACC and AVCA All-Region honors.
Sundararaman’s achievements on the court and in the classroom were recognized by the University of Miami as she was named the Female Scholar Athlete of the Year for the 2012-13 academic year.
While Nrithya excelled as a student-athlete, she also made time to help others. She was a summer research intern with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Sundararaman, who completed her coursework a semester early at Miami, spent her final semester in Coral Gables tutoring and mentoring her fellow student-athletes.
Sundararaman volunteered her time with a variety of different organizations. She and her Miami teammates were involved with “Dig Pink”, fundraising for breast cancer awareness and research. She also volunteered at children’s volleyball camps, and was active with Relay for Life.
Every year, the NCAA encourages each member college and university to honor its top one or two graduating female student-athletes by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
Each conference then selects one or two women from the nominees to represent the conference. Those names are then sent to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 10 honorees in each division.
From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee determines the top three in each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will then vote from among the finalists to determine the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be honored, and the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, at the annual ceremony Oct. 20 in Indianapolis.
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