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Courtesy of CMS Athletics--
CLAREMONT, Calif. -
Ella Brissett of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team was named one of the 30 finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award this week, which will be announced later this fall.
Established in 1991, the award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes female student-athletes who have completed their undergraduate studies and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.
Selected from a record-breaking 631 nominees submitted by member schools — a group that was then narrowed to 167 nominees at the conference level — the Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. Each honoree has demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
Brissett won two national championships with the Athenas tennis program, including when she provided the clinching point in the NCAA Championship match against the University of Chicago in 2022, one day after winning her semifinal match 6-0, 6-0. She also had a pivotal win in the repeat title in 2023, coming back from a third-set deficit to provide the clinching point in a 5-4 regional final win over Pomona-Pitzer (after also coming back for a win in doubles to cut the Pomona-Pitzer lead to 2-1).
In addition to her athletic achievements, Brissett graduated from Claremont McKenna with a 3.96 GPA in biology, earned first-team Academic All-America honors, and already has five peer-reviewed publications in print. She has already been honored as the Division III Commissioner's Association Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year, captured the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award (which is given to only one student-athlete, male or female, from a pool of all three NCAA divisions), earned the SCIAC Character Award, and the Claremont McKenna Hank Kreiger Award for character and leadership.
During her time at CMS, Brissett founded the Women's Empowerment in Sports Club (WEIS), served a college peer mentor for Women in STEM, a CMS Title IX Peer leader leading workshops on sexual violence prevention, a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Intern with the Keck Science Department, and a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Representative. Off campus, she has volunteered with the House of Ruth, as a youth engagement volunteer at elementary schools, and as a triage assistant at a free women's health clinic.
Brissett's advancement marks the second year in a row that CMS has had one of the top 30 NCAA Woman of the Year finalists. A year ago, Cooper McKenna of the women's water polo team was one of the 30 selected by the committee for the final round.
"These honorees represent the very best of what it means to be a student-athlete, and the character-building potential that is inherent in all athletic pursuits. They have distinguished themselves among the many thousands of collegiate athletes who find and surpass their limits every day on the journey to becoming their best selves, not just in sport, but in life," said Marion Terenzio, chair of the Woman of the Year Selection Committee and president of SUNY Cobleskill. "I congratulate all of the remarkable women named to the Top 30 and applaud their demonstrated ability to create positive change in themselves and in the world around them."
From these 30 finalists, the Woman of the Year Selection Committee will choose the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be announced this fall and recognized at the NCAA Convention in January. To view the complete list of finalists, go to the following link:
NCAA Woman of the Year Finalists
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