WALTHAM, Mass. – Recent Brandeis University graduate Emma Bartlett of Duxbury, Massachusetts, has been named Brandeis University's 2020 nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
"Emma is a pillar in our program," said head coach Alesia Bennett. "She is deserving of this nomination because of her work ethic on and off the court and her values as a young woman. She will be greatly missed."
Bartlett is one of the most successful middle blockers in Brandeis volleyball history. She was an honorable mention All-American honoree by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a junior, just the second in program history. Bartlett was also a second-team All-University Athletic Association selection as a junior and senior. She helped her team reach the ECAC Division III tournament as a sophomore and finish in fifth place in the UAA as a junior, the team's best finish in a decade. As a senior in 2019, Bartlett led the UAA in points in league play. She graduates sixth on Brandeis's career blocks list with 303 and 10th in career kills with 987.
Off the court, Bartlett was a three-time Academic All-UAA selection, graduating with a 3.54 grade-point average and degrees in economics and environmental studies with a minor in Hispanic studies. She served on Brandeis's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for four years and was a mentor for the volleyball team's Team IMPACT teammate the past two years.
Bryson is Brandeis's first conference NCAA Woman of the Year winner since the NCAA started honoring someone from each conference. She shares this year's UAA award with Cassandra Laios from Case Western Reserve University.
A record 605 female college athletes were nominated by NCAA member schools for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year award, including 220 in Division III.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
The nominees competed in 24 different sports across all three NCAA divisions. Multisport student-athletes account for 128 of the nominees.
Next, conferences will select up to two nominees each from the pool of school nominees. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.
The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30 and announce the nine finalists in September. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year later this fall.