MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced Athletics Department saw a school record 40 student athletes and six teams honored by the NAIA for their academic success on National Awards Day.
UC Merced's 40 student athletes were named Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes, while the six teams were named NAIA Scholar Teams. The previous UC Merced all-time high was 14 scholar athletes.
The awards are based off the 2021-22 academic year.
The Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete program recognizes excellence in the classroom by NAIA-member student athletes who are juniors or above in academic standing with a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Students must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year as a non-transfer or one full year as a transfer.
UC Merced's Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes are:
Women's Volleyball (12): Tea Bishop, Annamarie Caldero, Jalen Carey, Hannah Dillingham, Valentina Evans, *Lacey Gallagher, *Lexus Lagumbay, *Brittany Johnson, Bianca Malaluan, Teola Nowak, Olanasaze Ojo, *Edwena Wong
Women's Soccer (6): Scylla Alavizos, *Maddie Door, Vanessa Raygoza, Ciera Santos, Kylee Silva, Isabella Spiva
Women's Basketball (6): Julinna Fletes, Parker Fromm, Deyliana Lewis, Tiffany Nguyen, Haylee Owen, *Rainah Smith
Women's Cross Country (5): Maria Aguilar, Brieanna Anderson, Emily Gonzales, Alexandra Lopez, Elizette Ysais
Men's Cross Country (4): Corbin Farias, Daniel Herrera, David Lee, Noah Vasquez
Men's Volleyball (3): *Zach Brill, Ryan Kilgore, Kaikoa Soma
Men's Basketball (3): Tiler Fears, Jaron Mertle, Zach Phipps
Men's Soccer (1): Brycen Miller
*Signifies 2X honorees. Seventeen Bobcats in school history have now earned the Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete distinction twice in their career.
Women's volleyball is the first team in school history to have at least ten Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes in one year and they led all women's volleyball teams on the West Coast with 12 total.
Men's and women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, and men's cross country recorded the highest number of scholar athletes for their respective sports in the California Pacific Conference.
UC Merced's 40 total Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes are the second most in the Cal Pac.
UC Merced also had six NAIA Scholar Teams.
For a team to be considered a Scholar Team, it must have a 3.0-grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) as defined by the institution. The team's grade point average includes all eligible varsity student athletes. Men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, women's soccer, and women's volleyball earned the distinction.
This marks the department-best seventh consecutive year women's soccer has been named a Scholar Team, while it was the fifth consecutive honor for women's volleyball and seventh distinction all-time. Women's basketball is named a Scholar Team for the fifth time.
UC Merced has had at least four NAIA Scholar Teams for four consecutive years and at least two for seven consecutive years.
Among the NAIA institutions in California, UC Merced is one of five to have multiple Scholar Teams in seven consecutive years. UC Merced is also one of four athletic departments in the California Pacific Conference alongside University of Antelope Valley, Marymount California University and Embry-Riddle to accomplish the feat.
All the awards can be found here.
