INDIANPOLIS – Former Hardin-Simmons volleyball player Kaela Parnell has advanced another step in the NCAA Woman of the Year voting process as she has been named one of the 30 National Semifinalists.

The voting process starts at the institution level, where Parnell was selected as the HSU Nominee, and then went to the conference level where she was named the ASC nominee, thelist of 452 nominees from all three NCAA levels was cut down to 10 semifinalists from each Division.

The NCAA will pare the list down one more time to the top three from each division for the Oct. 17 Award Ceremony in Indianapolis. The national winner will be chosen by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics.

The Woman of the Year award honors female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.

“The Woman of the Year award uniquely gives us the opportunity to honor a group of outstanding female student-athletes who perform at high levels in collegiate athletics while also making significant contributions to their communities and achieving remarkable academic success,” said Karen Morrison, NCAA director of gender initiatives.

Parnell was an all-American volleyball player for the Cowgirls was the American Southwest Conference MVP, posted a 4.0 GPA as a pre-med/biology major and was the ASC Community Service Award Winner.

-Courtesy Hardin-Simmons University Sports Information Department

The top 30 honorees by conference and division (I, II or III) are: