MERCED, Calif. - University of California, Merced women's water polo senior Jacquline Azevedo was named the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Winner for women's water polo for the second consecutive year, as announced by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine.
As the name denotes, the annual Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars special report edition is part of a decades-long tradition of recognizing outstanding, young minority men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits. In addition, Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars have been active on their campuses or in their communities.
Azevedo boasts a 3.57 GPA and will graduate with a degree in management and business economics. Next semester, she will study abroad in Spain before pursuing her master's degree in higher education and student affairs.
As an involved student leader on campus, Azevedo is a Resident Assistant, a Senator At-Large for ASUCM, an active participant for the Human Help Project, and a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She has also served on many committees with Student Affairs and volunteered for key events with the Community Engagement Center.
This past fall, Azevedo represented UC Merced on a UC Board of Regents athletics committee.
The Hilmar, Calif., native is one of five players on the Bobcats active roster that competed on UC Merced's inaugural women's water polo intercollegiate varsity team in 2023. The attacker has recorded 17 steals, seven assists, and three goals in her career. She helped the team win the 2024 Cal Pac Championship and first place in the CWPA Club Sierra Pacific "B" Division in 2023.
Along with Azevedo, UC Merced men's volleyball's Dylan Jong was named a 2025 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Winner and men's basketball's Cameron Brown is a finalist for the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year award.
UC Merced is one of six schools in the country with multiple sports winners and the only non NCAA Division I institution. The other five schools are Arizona State, Holy Cross, Ohio State, Southern University & A&M College, and UCLA.
