Aug. 18, 2010
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV's Marissa Nichols is one of 452 college and university nominees for the 20th annual NCAA Woman of the Year award. Nichols is the second-straight Rebel softball honoree following Brittany Meade's lead in 20009.
Nichols recently earned her master's degree in school counseling and was recognized as an "Outstanding Graduate" at UNLV's Spring Commencement ceremonies. Besides the recognition on graduation day, Nichols earned five Spring Academic All-Mountain West Conference awards and was named an MWC Scholar-Athlete on three occasions.
Earlier this year, she was named a candidate for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which honors senior student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. Nichols is one of 30 NCAA Division I softball players up for the award that recognizes notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and competition.
The award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
She was just as successful on the softball diamond, as she was in the classroom. She was a one-time NFCA All-American and three-time All-MWC performer. She earned conference player of the week honors seven times, as well.
Unfortunately, Nichols had to overcome numerous injuries in her six-year career at UNLV. After performing as an All-American during her freshman season in 2005, she played the first half of the 2006 year before missing the next 2.5 years of action. She returned to the field in 2009 and amassed back-to-back all-conference earning performances.
She nearly re-wrote the UNLV single-season record book in her first year, as she set new marks in runs, hits, home runs, total bases and stolen bases, while finishing highly in batting average, doubles, triples, RBI, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Besides being selected as an All-Mountain West Conference honoree, she set the league record for the Player of the Week selections with six. She was tabbed UNLV's Sports Woman of the Year in 2005.
In all, she is only one of two Rebels to rank in 13 of UNLV's all-time categories, as she joined teammate Jaci Hull (2006-10) in the exclusive club. Her highest ranking is a second-place showing in stolen bases (55). She is third in runs (157), total bases (406), slugging (.672) and on-base (.440). She ranks fourth in batting average (.363), doubles (47) and home runs (40); fifth in triples (10); sixth in hits (219) and walks (74); and eighth in RBI (115).
Every institution was encouraged to honor its top graduating female student-athlete. Schools were urged to submit two nominations to their respective conference offices, if at least one of the nominees is a woman of color or international student-athlete. Nominees represent all three divisions.
Each conference then assesses each nominee's eligibility and subsequently selects a conference nominee based on collective achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics. All conference nominees will be forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, members of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year.
In order to be eligible for the award, female student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2010 spring season, graduated no later than the end of the summer 2010 term, and achieved a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5.
The top 10 honorees per division will be announced in August, followed by the top 3 honorees per division in September. The top 10 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at a dinner in Indianapolis on October 17.
