Wednesday, July 27, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball player Tennae Voliva and Seattle Pacific women’s soccer player Sophia Chilczuk have emerged from the conference’s four initial nominees to be selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s nominee for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

The two are among 151 conference nominees and 39 nominees from the Division II level to advance from the initial list of 577 nominees for the award. The conference nominees will be next be narrowed down to a top 30 list that will be determined by selection committee and announced in September.

Voliva helped lead Alaska Anchorage to second place in the GNAC women’s basketball regular-season standings and another run to the NCAA West Regional Tournament. Voliva led the Seawolves with averages of 12.9 points and seven rebounds per game, ranking in the conference’s top 10 in both categories, and was ninth in the GNAC with a .479 field goal percentage.

A First Team All-GNAC and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American selection, Voliva became the fourth player in UAA women’s basketball history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-American honors with a 4.00 GPA as a graduate student in clinical psychology. She finished her career as a two-time All-GNAC selection (first team in 2022, honorable mention in 2020) and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.

Chilczuk was recognized as the GNAC’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in June. A 2021 United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American, Chilzcuk was also named a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. She is the first three-time Academic All-American in program history, earning a 3.92 GPA as a physiology major. Chilzcuk led Division II with a GNAC single-season record 17 assists and scored a team-leading 30 points (six goals, 17 assists) to help lead SPU to the West Region title.

A First Team All-GNAC selection, Chilczuk was named MVP of the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships after dishing out four assists in the Falcons’ two victories. She was also among the 2022 honorees for the Seattle Female Sports Star of the Year.

Other GNAC nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award included Central Washington basketball player Kassidy Malcolm and Alaska volleyball player Cate Whiting.

Now in its 32nd year, the NCAA Woman of the Year program recognizes female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and have distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.