CLEVELAND – The Division III Commissioner's Association (DIIICA) announced the recipients of the fourth annual Women's and Men's Student-Athlete of the Year awards.
D3CA Release
Ella Brissett of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (SCIAC) and Tate Ivanyo of Anderson University (HCAC) were this year's recipients.
The two emerged as the national winners from a pool of
20 regional honorees which were announced earlier this month.
Brissett was a cornerstone of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis program, leading her team to two NCAA Division III national championships (2022, 2023) and clinching the decisive singles victory (6-4, 6-3) in the 2022 national final against the University of Chicago. A two-time ITA All-American in doubles (2024, 2025), she also earned First-Team All-SCIAC honors in 2025, collected two Second-Team selections, was a 2024 ITA Cup doubles national semifinalist, captured the 2023 ITA West Region doubles title, and helped guide her team to the 2024 ITA Indoor National Team Championship.Brissett completed her career with a 142-54 overall record.
In the classroom, Brissett distinguished herself as a 2025 College Sports Communicators First-Team Academic All-America selection, a four-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received Claremont McKenna College's Best Thesis in Gender Studies Sequence Award for her research on racial disparities in uterine fibroids and was honored with the Hank Krieger Award, the school's highest award for student-athletes who excel in athletics, academics, and leadership.
Her leadership extended across campus and into the community. Brissett was the founder and president of the Women's Empowerment Sports Club, a peer mentor for women in STEM, a Title IX peer leader for CMS Athletics, and a SAAC representative. She also served as a Female Athlete Mentor in a youth mentorship program for middle school girls and as a DEI intern with the Keck Science Department. Additionally, she pursued significant research opportunities, including as a Caltech Amgen Scholar in neurobiology, contributing to a published manuscript, and as a clinical research intern studying disparities in oral surgery and rhinology care.
Selection criteria for the DIIICA Student-Athlete of the Year awards include academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, leadership, and a personal statement submitted by each nominee. Conferences may submit two nominations per award if one represents an international student or ethnic minority. Graduating seniors are the only student-athletes eligible.
The initial round of voting was conducted by commissioners within each of the ten regions, with the top male and female honorees advancing as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner's Association Men's Sport and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year.
About the DIIICA: The Division III Commissioners Association became a stand-alone organization in January 1992, after previously serving as a combined group with the Division II Commissioners Association. The association is comprised of 43 NCAA Division III conferences, representing over 440 public and private institutions. The purpose of the DIIICA is to empower commissioners to effectively lead their conferences and positively impact Division III intercollegiate athletics by identifying challenges, developing solutions, and taking collective action that reflects the conference perspective.
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