Siebert named SAC Woman of the Year
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Carson-Newman softball second baseman Elayna Siebert has been named the South Atlantic Conference's Woman of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday morning.
From here, 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 from among those nine to determine the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.
"Elayna is such a competitor, and always had it in her to make sure business was taken care of on the field as well as off it," head softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield said. "I could not be prouder of her for winning this honor. She cared equally about her performance on the field of competition as well as what happened in the classroom."
Siebert tallied a .383 average to lead the Eagles. The senior had 36 RBI, four dingers and four triples in her senior season. The 36 runs batted in rank ninth in the league while the four triples are the fourth highest total in the conference.
The Karns High School graduate collected the fourth, four-hit day of her career against Bluefield State, coming a home run shy of the cycle that day. She matched her own school record for doubles in a single game when she connected on three in April against Wingate.
"It's not something I was specifically striving for, I was only trying to perform well on the field and the classroom," Siebert said. "But it's very nice to be recognized for this as a byproduct of that performance. Coach always made it a priority to keep our grades up. So it was nice to have that support from her."
Siebert graduated from Carson-Newman with a 3.97 GPA as an accounting major. A four-time Dean's List honoree, she earned Eagle Scholar honors during her sophomore, junior and senior years. Additionally, she was presented with the university's Academic Athlete of the Year at the third annual Frosty Awards in early May as the athlete graduating with the highest grade point average.
Siebert was a four-time Carson-Newman Hope Scholar and Carson-Newman Presidential Scholar. Siebert was also named to the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's honor roll all four years at Carson-Newman. She is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American as a junior and could win the honor again as a senior. She has earned academic all-district honors this season.
A three-time All-SAC selection and all-region selection, Siebert was named a first-team All-American as a utility player during her junior year.
Siebert finished her career with 115 RBI, 22 home runs, 31 doubles and a .365 average at the plate. She is tied for eighth all-time in SAC history with 14 triples; she slugged .572 for her career.
Siebert was very generous with her time during her college career as she sponsored a child in Bangladesh all four years as an Eagle volunteering and providing funds to help a child receive a Christian education. She has been an active volunteer with Compassion International and has worked with the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries in each of the last three years. Siebert spent time in Cape Town South Africa with the Living Hope Organization and has been a guest speaker at the Vonore Baptist Church during their summer youth revivals.
She is also a coach of a summer travel softball team and volunteers as a coach during Carson-Newman's summer softball camps.
