INDIANAPOLIS (www.blugolds.com) – Arianna Barrett (Sr. - Lakeville, Minn./North) of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's volleyball team is one of a record-breaking 619 female student-athletes to be nominated by NCAA member schools for consideration of the 2023 Woman of the Year award.
Since 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership throughout their college careers. Within the nomination pool, 227 nominees represent Division III institutions.
Barrett's nomination comes after being named the recipient of the 2022 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Judy Kruckman Women's Volleyball Scholar-Athlete Award. She earned a 4.00 grade point average during the 2022 season while pursuing a master's in communication sciences and disorders. In May 2022, Barrett received an undergraduate degree with a comprehensive major in communication sciences and disorders and a certificate in social work (gerontology emphasis), posting a 3.76 undergraduate GPA. Barrett is a four-time member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and received Academic Distinction, as well as Dean's List recognition from UW-Eau Claire numerous semesters. She was named to the 2022 College Sports Communicators Academic All America third team in her final season with the Blugolds.
A team captain in her last two seasons, Barrett was a four-time All-WIAC first team selection – just the second individual in program history to accomplish the feat. In 2021, she helped UW-Eau Claire claim the NCAA Division III national title and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the national championship. Barrett was a three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America selection, receiving second team laurels in 2019 and honorable mention in 2021 and 2022. She secured AVCA All-Region first team recognition in 2019, 2021 and 2022, and was tabbed the region's Freshman of the Year in 2018 when she collected honorable mention status en route to UW-Eau Claire's first ever NCAA Final Four appearance. Barrett helped UW-Eau Claire capture the conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2018 and 2021. She ranks third on the program career list in kills and total attacks.
By virtue of her nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year by UW-Eau Claire, Barrett will move into a pool of at-large candidates from affiliate-member conferences. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees—10 from each division—from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in October.
