CASTINE, Maine -- Maine Maritime Academy's Sydney Adams (Trumbull, Conn.) has been named the 2020 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Woman of the Year. She is the first Mariner to receive this most prestigious conference honor.
The NAC Woman of the Year Award is modeled after the NCAA Woman of the Year program which honors graduating student-athletes who distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership. Adams is also the NAC nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Adams, the 2019-2020 Maine Maritime Academy Female Athlete of the Year, earned NAC Volleyball First Team accolades following the 2019 regular season, and was named the 2019 NAC Volleyball Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year.
"Sydney is a genuine character with genuine character," said Maine Maritime Academy Director of Athletics, Steve Peed. "She is a fierce competitor, a dedicated scholar, a contributor to our campus and Castine community, and she brought a laugh and a smile to every encounter off of the floor. Our building won't be the same without her around, but it is definitely a much better place as a result of the time she spent in it. I am incredibly proud to call her a Mariner and our first NAC Woman of the Year."
As the setter, Adams helped lead the Mariners to their fourth-consecutive NAC Championship, earning NAC Tournament MVP honors and helped guide the Mariners to their first set victory in the NCAA Division III Tournament, and the first set victory by a NAC team.
This season Adams became Maine Maritime's all-time assist leader with 3,163 career assists, while compiling 808 assists, 155 digs, 92 kills, 55 aces, and 29 total blocks in 27 matches (84 sets).
Adams finished her volleyball career with four All-NAC recognitions, 743 digs, 421 kills, 251 services aces and 134 total blocks and represented the Mariners at the 2019 New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA) Senior Classic All-Star Game in December. Adams was a three-year member of the Mariners women's lacrosse team and earned a spot on both the First Team All-NAC and All-Tournament team in 2019.
"I am so excited for Syd to be named this year's NAC Woman of the Year," said Maine Maritime Head Volleyball Coach, Tricia Carver. "In Mariners volleyball, we believe that all individual awards are achieved upon the foundation of a strong and winning team culture. Syd is an incredible selection for NAC Woman of the Year -- a scholar, an athlete, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend, a teammate, and more. Syd has a brilliant mind, a courageous and adventurous spirit, a caring heart, and a wicked sense of wit and humor. Syd looks out for those around her and in her own unique way, shares team, joy, and fun. With this award, Syd represents her team, her family, and the excellence of her senior classmates and their legacy here at MMA. We are grateful she has been selected as NAC Woman of the Year out of the many outstanding nominees in our conference. Congratulations, Syd, and Congratulations, Mariners."
In the classroom, Adams excelled academically, earning numerous awards including the Maine Maritime Henry A. Scheel Scholar Award and the Spill Control Association of America (SCAA) Award given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding interest, creativity, initiative and commitment to Environmental Excellence in the performance of their course of study. She was named a Presidential Scholar and a Distinguished Scholar each year at the Academy.
Adams was involved in dozens of campus activities, including volunteering with the annual Special Olympics bocce tournament, volleyball clinics, and served on the Title IX committee. She was a four-year employee in the athletic department and also worked as a supervisor for the rock wall and waterfront. Adams earned PADI Master Diver certification and served as a tutor for chemistry and calculus.
"Sydney is an excellent representative for the NAC. She was involved at every level on campus, and was an outstanding scholar and a tremendous athlete," said NAC Commissioner Marcella Zalot. "I started in the NAC four years ago and have been able to watch her lead her team to the NAC Championship each of those four years. She is an impressive young woman, she exemplifies the Division III experience, and I am proud to honor her with this award."
Adams will begin a Master's degree program in Environmental Engineering at the University of New Hampshire this fall as a fully-funded teaching assistant.
Member schools nominate student-athletes from their own institution, then conference Athletic Directors and Senior Woman Administrators vote to select the Woman of the Year. Scoring for the academic achievement section is based on the undergraduate cumulative grade-point average of the nominee. Scoring for athletic excellence is based on the nominee's honors and accomplishments including awards and championships, and scoring for service and leadership is based on their involvement in campus and community activities and organizations over the course of their collegiate career. Administrators also consider a short personal statement written by each nominee.
Adams was one of eight student-athletes nominated for the award, which encompasses all facets of the NCAA Division III student-athlete experience. The other nominees were Alisha Celley of Northern Vermont-Lyndon, Cassie Contigiani of Thomas College, Molly Denny of SUNY Canton, Yvonne Hartridge of UMaine-Presque Isle, Katie LeBlanc of UMaine-Farmington, Joan Overman of Husson University, and Grace Page of Northern Vermont-Johnson.
Representatives from the NCAA membership comprise the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee. The selection committee will choose the Top-30 national honorees, including 10 from each division, and then narrow the list to the top-three in each division using the guidelines outlined here. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will use the same criteria to select the winner from the final nine. The top-30 are due to be announced in September, and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named on November 1, 2020.
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