July 25, 2016

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Recent graduates Emily Tillo (Boston University) and Monika Smidova (American) have been selected as the Patriot League’s representatives for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
 
Tillo and Smidova will be among the 54 conference nominees on the Division I ballot for the Woman of the Year award, which was established in 1991. The honor encompasses four pillars with academics, athletics, service and leadership all recognized among the distinguished nominees. Tillo and Smidova were selected in a vote by the Patriot League’s senior woman administrators.
 
Tillo recently concluded an outstanding career for the Boston University women’s golf team which included three consecutive Corvias Patriot League Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards in her sport. Tillo also won the Patriot League Sportsmanship Award for 2015-16 and was the Boston University Woman of the Year as a senior. She was the President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) at Boston University and represented her team for three years in the BU Athletics Leadership Academy. Tillo initiated the “It’s On Us” campaign to end sexual assault at BU.
 
Smidova experienced great success on the volleyball court for American. She was named Patriot League Player of the Year in her final two seasons and earned the Setter of the Year award three straight times from 2013-15. Smidova was also an AVCA Honorable Mention All-America in the past two years. She earned All-Patriot League status four times, including three first-team honors, and led the Eagles to four League titles and NCAA appearances, as well as three NCAA Tournament victories. She was named to the Patriot League 25^th Anniversary Team before her final season.
 
Smidova graduated in May with a Master’s degree in Finance after earning her undergraduate degree in Business Administration. She was a three-time Corvias Patriot League Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and also earned Academic All-America status in 2014.
Each Patriot League school had the opportunity to submit a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. In addition to Tillo and Smidova, nominees included three basketball student-athletes in Army West Point’s Kelsey Minato, Colgate’s Josie Stockill and Holy Cross’ Molly Hourigan as well as Lafayette’s Stephanie Benko (Cross Country/Track and Field), Lehigh’s Morgan Decker (Softball), Loyola’s Colleen Folan (Soccer) and Navy’s Ellen Bradford (Swimming and Diving).