DeAnna Hernandez named finalist for SCAC Woman of the Year

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran graduate and NCAA Division III Softball national champion DeAnna Hernandez is a finalist for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Woman of the Year award.

 

The SCAC announced the seven finalists for the 2020 SCAC Woman of the Year award on Tuesday.

 

The award recognizes the conference's senior female student-athlete who has best distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence and service and leadership.

 

Member schools were permitted to submit two nominations if at least one of the nominees was a woman of color or international student-athlete.

 

This year's finalists include: Ann Savage of Austin College, Kyra Montes of Centenary College, Riley Wadehra of Colorado College, Hannah Ortiz of Schreiner University, Mary Cardone of Southwestern University, Hernandez of TLU, and Abby Holland of Trinity University.

 

To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in their primary sport by the end of the 2020 spring season, received their undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2020 term, and have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).

 

Hernandez, a senior outfielder from Sugar Land, Texas (Dulles High School), graduated from TLU with a 4.0 grade point average as a biochemistry major. She is a May 2020 graduate of TLU.

 

The 2019-20 TLU Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Hernandez was a four-year letter-winner for the NCAA Division III national champion Bulldogs. She also claimed TLU's Junior-Year Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2019.

 

Hernandez was named the 2019 Elite 90 Award Winner for NCAA Division III Softball at the national championship finals banquet. The Elite 90 award is given during each NCAA sport's national championship event. The NCAA conducts 90 national championships each year.

 

The Elite 90 is awarded to the top student-athlete at each national championship. The award is given to the participating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. Ties are broken by the number of hours a student-athlete has earned.

 

In 2020, Hernandez was named the SCAC's Elite 19 Award Winner for Softball. The SCAC Elite 19 awards are modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 awards.

 

Hernandez and the Bulldogs were 19-1 and ranked second in the DIII when the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

A three-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll award recipient and a 2019 SCAC First Team All-Conference selection, Hernandez is a career .340 hitter with a career on-base percentage of .412. She has 37 stolen bases in 42 career attempts.

 

In the Bulldogs' national championship season, Hernandez hit .367, stole 17 bases, and scored 30 runs. She posted a 2019 on-base percentage of .451.

 

Hernandez was a First-Team All-SCAC selection in 2019. Last season, Hernandez batted .367 from the plate with 30 runs scored, 29 hits and nine RBI to help lead the Bulldogs to their sixth-straight SCAC Softball Championship.

 

Hernandez played a key role in the program's first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship. The Bulldogs defeated Emory twice on May 27, 2019 in the best-of-three championship series to earn the title and complete a stretch during which they won 19 of 20 games.

 

In their run to the national championship, TLU went undefeated in the NCAA Marshall (Texas) Regional and 2-1 against Linfield College at the McMinnville (Ore.) Super Regional. Add their three victories en route to their sixth-straight conference title, the Bulldogs were 13-1 overall in the postseason in 2019.

 

TLU went 18-5 against teams that were ranked or received votes in the NFCA Top 25 in 2019. The Bulldogs had wins over Birmingham-Southern College (twice), Eastern Connecticut State University, East Texas Baptist University (twice), Emory University (twice), Linfield (twice), Southwestern University (five times), Transylvania University (twice), Trine University, and Williams College.

 

Hernandez was a four-time member of the SCAC Spring Academic Honor Roll, and she made the TLU President's List in all eight of her collegiate semesters.

 

Hernandez was a TLU Chemistry Grant award recipient in 2019, and she was the secretary of the TLU Black & Gold President's Council for the 2019-20 academic year. She also served on the TLU Campus Activity Board, as a TLU Peer Mentor, as an organic chemistry research assistant, and as secretary and president of the TLU Pre-Health Professions Club.

 

Scroll below to read a quick bio on each of the seven finalists:

Ann Savage, Austin College
Women's Basketball 

• Graduated as a Mathematics major with a 3.96 GPA
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2017-20)
• Two-Time SCAC Women's Basketball Elite 19 Award Winner (2019, 2020)
• Google Cloud First Team Academic All-District (2020)
• Austin College JC Kidd Medal (2019)
• Three-Time Second Team All-SCAC (2018, 2019, 2020); Third Team All-SCAC (2017)
• NCAA Leader Assist to Turnover Ratio (2019)
• SCAC Regular Season Champion (2019)
• SCAC Tournament Champion (2020)
• Two-time Team Captain (2018-19; 2019-20)
• One-Time SCAC Player-of-the-Week
• Brittany Simpson Award for Dedicated Athlete (2018, 2019, 2020)
• Pat E Hooks Basketball Team MVP (2020)
• SCAC Character & Community Honoree (2018)
• Austin College Service Station Tutoring (2016-2020)
• Global Outreach Fellowship (2018)
• Toys for Tots Basketball Clinic Volunteer (2016-19)
• Alpha Phi Omega Member (2017-18)

Kyra Montes, Centenary College
Women's Soccer

• Graduated as a Biology major with a 3.40 GPA
• SCAC Academic Honor Roll (2018)
• Centenary College Dean's List (2016-19)
• Three-time First Team All-SCAC (2017, 2018, 2019)
• United Soccer Coaches (USC) First Team All-Region (2019)
• United Soccer Coaches (USC) National Player-of-the-Week (2018)
• Jamaica Mission Trip (2017)
• JV Girls Soccer Head Coach (2018-20)
• Centenary College YoungLife Volunteer (2018-20)
• Holy Angels Teaching Volunteer (2018)
• Metrocrest Services Volunteer (2019)

Riley Wadehra, Colorado College
Women's Swimming & Diving

• Graduated as an Environmental Science major with a 3.94 GPA
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2017-20)
• Colorado College Dean's List (2016-20)
• Google Cloud First Team Academic All-District (2019)
• Four-Time CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention Team (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
• Colorado College Outstanding Senior Academic Award - Environmental Studies (2020)
• SCAC 1-Meter Diving Champion (2019)
• Two-Time All-SCAC - 1-meter board (2018, 2019)
• Two-Time All-SCAC - 3-meter board (2018, 2019)
• SCAC Team Runner-up (2017-2019); SCAC Team Third Place (2020)
• Two-time Team Captain (2018-19; 2019-20)
• Eight-Time SCAC Diver-of-the-Week (2017-20)
• CC Swimming & Diving Jerry Lear Coaches' Choice Award (2017)
• Colorado College Laura Golden Award Recipient (2020)
• SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team (2019, 2020)
• Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) - Team Representative (2017-20)
• Quantitative Reasoning Center Peer Tutor (2018-20)
• Authorship on paper published in 'Geophysical Research Letters' (Feb. 2020)
• Presented at Ecological Society of America Conference (2018)
• Women in STEM Club (2016-18)
• Colorado College Swap Space Manager (2018-20) 
• Clean Up the Creek Volunteer (2016-17)
• Special Olympics Swimming Clinic Volunteer (2019-20)

Hannah Ortiz, Schreiner University
Softball

• Graduated as a Chemistry major with a 3.87 GPA
• Three-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2018-20)
• SCAC Softball Elite 19 Award Winner (2019)
• Second Team All-SCAC (2018); Honorable Mention All-SCAC (2019)
• SCAC Tournament Fourth-Place Finish (2018)
• Schreiner University Female Athlete-of-the-Year (2020)
• Croc Center Youth Softball Coach (2019)
• Blue Santa Volunteer (2019)
• VA Hospital Volunteer (2020)
• Rise Against Hunger Volunteer (2020)
• STEM Zone Trunk or Treat Volunteer (2020) 

Mary Cardone, Southwestern University
Women's Soccer & Women's Tennis

• Graduated as a Business Administration major with a 3.89 GPA
• Eight-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2016-20)
• Two-Time SCAC Womens Soccer Elite 19 Award Winner (2018, 2019)
• Two-Time SCAC Women's Tennis Elite 19 Award Winner (2019, 2020)
• Southwestern University Dean's List (Seven Semesters)
• Four-Time Southwestern University Director of Athletics Academic Excellence Award
• Two-Time Dr. Carla Lowry/Southwestern Female Athlete-of-the-Year (2019, 2020)
• Four-Time Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar Athlete (2017-20)
• Two-Time United Soccer Coaches (USC) First Team Scholar All-Region (2018-19)
• CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Team (2020)
• Three-Time All-SCAC First Team Women's Soccer (2016, 2018-19); All-SCAC Second Team Women's Soccer (2017)
• Two-Time United Soccer Coaches (USC) Second Team All-Region (2018-19)
• Four-Time SCAC Women's Soccer All-Tournament Team (2016-19)
• SCAC Tournament Defensive MVP (2019)
• SCAC Women's Soccer Newcomer-of-the-Year (2016)
• Three-Time All-SCAC First Team Women's Tennis (2017-19)
• SCAC Team Women's Soccer Tournament Champion (2019)
• SCAC Women's Tennis Newcomer-of-the-Year (2017)
• Two-Time SCAC Women's Tennis All-Tournament Team (2017-19)
• Three-Time NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament qualifier (2017-19)
• Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American (2019) 
• Ranked as high as #22 nationally in Women's Tennis
• SCAC Women's Soccer All-Sportsmanship Team (2019)
• Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) - Team Representative (2017-20); President (2019-20)
• Southwestern University Honor Code Society Member (2018-20)
• Catholic Students' Association Member (2018-20)
• Community Engaged Learning Program Volunteer (2018)
• San Antonio Food Bank Volunteer (2019)

DeAnna Hernandez, Texas Lutheran University
Softball

• Graduated as a Biochemistry major with a 4.00 GPA
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2017-20)
• Two-Time TLU Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2019, 2020)
• TLU President's List (Eight Semesters)
• SCAC Softball Elite 19 Award Winner (2020)
• NCAA Division III Softball Elite 90 Award Winner
• Texas Lutheran Chemistry Grant Award (2018)
• First-Team All-SCAC Softball (2019)
• SCAC Team Regular Season and Tournament Softball Champions (2017-2019)
• NCAA Division III Softball Team National Champion (2019)
• TLU Black & Gold President's Council - Secretary (2019-20)
• TLU Campus Activity Board (2018-19)
• Peer Mentor (2017-18)
• Pre-Health Professions Club - Secretary (2017-18); President (2018-19)
• Research Assistant - Organic Chemistry (2017)
• Living Water International - Mission Trip (2017)

Abby Holland, Trinity University
Women's Basketball

• Graduated as a Communications major with a 3.82 GPA
• Four-Time SCAC Academic Honor Roll Honoree (2017-20)
• Trinity University Dean's List (Four Semesters)
• NCAA Jim McKay Scholarship Recipient (2020)
• NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient (2020)
• Outstanding Senior - Communications Department (2019-20)
• Robert O. Blanchard Department of Communication Award for Academic Excellence (2020)
• Three-Time First Team All-SCAC Women's Basketball (2018-20); Third Team All-SCAC Women's Basketball (2017)
• SCAC Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Year (2019-20)
• Two-Time SCAC Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team (2018, 2019)
• Eight-Time SCAC Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Week (2017-20)
• D3hoops.com Third Team All-America (2019-20)
• Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Honorable Mention All-America (2019-20)
• D3hoops.com First Team All-Region (2019-20); D3hoops.com Second Team All-Region (2018-19)
• Four-Time SCAC Women's Basketball Regular Season Team Champion (2017-20)
• Two-Time SCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Team Champion (2017-18)
• Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) - Team Representative (2018-20)
• Trinity University YoungLife Volunteer (2016-20)
• Trinity University Spurs Sorority Member (2016-20)
• STRAPS Sports Volunteer (2016-19)
• Basketball Camp Volunteer (2019)
• NCAA Final Four Social Media Intern (2017)