Indianapolis, IN – Rachel Liebig (Hartford, NY/Hartford) has been named a candidate for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. A women's volleyball setter at Sage, she is one of the record 543 female college athletes that has been nominated by NCAA member schools for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Named Sage's Gator Award recipient in women's volleyball, she excelled throughout her career both on the court and in the classroom.
Established in 1991 and now in its 27th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
The school nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, with 229 from Division I, 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. The nominees competed in 21 different women's sports, and 122 were multisport athletes during their time in college.
The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
Next, conferences will select up to two conference nominees each from the pool of school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees - 10 from each division.
From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.
The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 22 in Indianapolis.
Liebig, who was 2015 and 2016 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team pick, finished the year with her team-leading 957 setting assists, which ranked sixth best in school single-season records. On her career, she finished as the No. 2 all-time setting assist leader with her 3,332 setting assists, while also adding 203 aces, which stands fourth highest as well. She also connected for 613 digs in her 131 matches played at Sage. Liebig finished the season ranked 87th in total assists (957), while standing 180th in assists per set average (7.6). She was also honored in 2016 as the Skyline Conference Women's Volleyball Sportsmanship Award recipient.
As a team, Sage ranked nationally in 15 different categories. The Gators were ranked 31st nationally with 277 team service aces, while also ranking 93rd nationally in aces per set average (2.2) as well as No. 125 in team digs (1,861).
