2015 NCAA Woman of the Year Conference Nominees

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former softball outfielder and recent graduate from the School of Acting Elyse Cordova has been officially named a Pacific West Conference representative for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. 

"I am forever grateful to all those who helped guide me and support me through my journey," said Cordova. "I truly thank the Academy of Art and the PacWest for reminding me that I was a student-athlete and it's perfectly ok to be proud of myself."

After a record 480 nominees from three NCAA divisions were submitted this season, Cordova was among the 147 female-student-athletes named NCAA Woman of the Year honorees by conferences and independent schools. The award, now in its 25th year, honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership. Previous Academy of Art nominees include women's golfers Crystal Superal (2013) and Andrea Nieto (also a PacWest Conference finalist in 2014).

"Many of my friends and family know I wasn't thrilled with the way my softball career ended, you can say I expected more of myself, but this honor reminds me that it wasn't just about softball," said Cordova. "It reminds me that we are more than the position we play or the stats we can produce. Those are great of course, but I now have a degree in a field that I love. And I got it while playing on a field that I love."

Cordova, owner of a 3.41 cumulative GPA in the School of Acting over her four years of competition, was the softball program's only two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-West Region Team selection (2011, 2012) as well as a member of the 2012 All-PacWest First Team and All-PacWest Second Team in 2011. She garnered four PacWest weekly honors along with four PacWest Academic All-Conference awards in her career.

In the record books, Cordova still holds the second-highest career batting average (.395) in program history. She also set numerous records during her time including the most career runs scored, hits, triples, total bases, and stolen bases. She was a team captain as a senior in 2014 and led by example as a three-year member of the Urban Knights' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. After exhausting her eligibility, the 2014-15 academic year saw Cordova assist the Academy of Art University athletic department in a variety of event capacities particularly with softball gamedays.

"It was a great to work with Elyse as a fifth year and as an alum of the program this past season," said head coach Sonja Garnett. "As an Acting major, she was a dedicated and driven student, as well as a mentor to our younger artist-athletes. She is competitive, ambitious, and well deserving of this honor. I am proud she is representing our program as a candidate for NCAA Woman of the Year."

The total of 39 NCAA Division II conference nominations will now be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee chooses the top 10 honorees in each of the three NCAA divisions and will announce those honorees in early September. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee then determines the top three finalists in each division. Finally, the members of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year from the top nine finalists. The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at an awards dinner in Indianapolis on Sunday, October 18, 2015.