Kirchner Named Conference’s NCAA Woman of the Year Nominee

MADISON, Wis. -- Former University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's volleyball standout Stephanie Kirchner has been named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) nominee for the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. 

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. By submitting nominations, institutions and conferences have the opportunity to recognize female student-athletes who best exemplify a commitment to these four areas. 

A native of Sussex, Wis. (Sussex Hamilton), Kirchner majored in industrial engineering with a minor in business administration and maintained a 3.97 grade point average.  She was selected to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball First Team, becoming the second individual in program history to accomplish the feat.  Kirchner is a two-time recipient of UW-Platteville's Female Scholar Athlete of the Year honor (2013, 2014). 

A four-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll, Kirchner claimed the WIAC Judy Kruckman Women's Volleyball Scholar-Athlete Award in 2013.  She graduated Summa Cum Laude and earned a spot on the school's Gabe Miller Honor Roll numerous times. 

Kirchner earned All-WIAC First Team recognition in 2011, 2012 and 2013 after receiving honorable mention status in 2010.  She is the first player in Pioneer archives to earn All-WIAC first team accolades three years.  In 2012, she was selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Honorable Mention Team and AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team.  She also earned all-region honorable mention accolades in 2010.  Kirchner ended her career ranked in the top 10 on the school's all-time list in kills (1,354), attack percentage (.303), digs (1,192) and block assists (306); she is only the third Pioneer to end her career with over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. 

Away from the court and classroom, Kirchner was a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Societies, as well as the Society of Women Engineers.  She served as secretary for the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Alpha Pi Mu and a senior advisor for Tau Beta Pi.  Kirchner was a three-year participant with Habitat for Humanity. 

Kirchner becomes the third Pioneer to be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year, joining Jessica Scott (2009) and Ann Tank (2012). 

All conference NCAA Woman of the Year nominees will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee.  The selection committee will choose the top 10 nominees in each division.  From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division.  Finally, the members of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from among the top nine to determine the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The top 10 honorees from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year announced at a dinner in Indianapolis on October 19, 2014.  

Also nominated for this year's NCAA Woman of the Year Award were:  UW-Eau Claire's Danielle Schulzetenberg (Maple Grove, Minn.); UW-La Crosse's Olivia Hartwick (Fort Atkinson, Wis.); UW-Oshkosh's Christy Cazzola (Kaukauna, Wis.); and UW-Whitewater's Mary Merg (Greendale, Wis.). 

In order to be considered for the award, nominees must complete their eligibility (or have no intent to compete further) by July 2014 and have completed their undergraduate degrees by the end of the summer of 2014.  Individuals can be nominated only once in their careers.

Written by Matt Stanek, WIAC Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations