Canadian named NCAA female athlete of the year
Canadian Sarah Pavan, who led Nebraska to the NCAA volleyball title, won the 31st annual Honda-Broderick Cup on Monday.
The junior from Kitchener, Ont., guided the No. 1-ranked Cornhuskers to a 33-1 record, earning the award as the NCAA female athlete of the year. The award was presented at Columbia University.
Canadian soccer standout Christine Sinclair won the Honda-Broderick Cup in 2006.
The award is just the latest in a string of honours for Pavan this season. The six-foot-five right-side hitter also captured the 2006-07 Honda Sports Award as the top player in U.S. college women's volleyball after leading the Cornhuskers to their third consecutive NCAA title.
She also earned outstanding player honours at the NCAA championship tournament, and was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year.
Her 4.00 grade-point average in biochemistry earned her ESPN The Magazine's 2006 Academic All-American of the Year award, which goes to the most outstanding student athlete in the NCAA.
Pavan beat out finalists:
- Monica Abbott, a member of Tennessee's softball team.
- Tennessee basketball star Candace Parker.
- Maryland field hockey player Paula Infante.
- Heather O'Reilly of North Carolina's soccer team.
Kylee Hanavan, a soccer player from Metropolitan State University, won the Division II award and tennis player Liz Bondi of DePauw University won the Division III honour.
The Rutgers women's basketball team earned the Irv Grossman Award of Merit. The Scarlet Knights reached the NCAA championship game before losing to Tennessee.