Indianapolis, IN (June 23, 2015) – Senior Alyssa Brandt has been nominated as one of 480 student-athletes nominees across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award as announced late last week by the NCAA national office.
 
The award, now in its 25^th year, annually recognizes female student-athletes that exemplify in grand fashion the four pillars of academics, athletics, service, and leadership.
 
Brandt recently graduated from DeSales this past May as a biology (pre-med.) major with a triple minor in chemistry, psychology, and sport & exercise science.  She has already been accepted and is enrolled at Penn State Hershey College of Medicine as a first year medical student studying to become a physician.
 
She spent her first three years at DeSales as a member of the women's soccer team, tallying five goals and five assists in her three years on the team.  Brandt was also a four-year member of the women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams earning All-MAC First-Team honors as a senior in the heptathlon and All-MAC Second-Team honors as a junior in both the heptathlon and 400-meter hurdles.
 
She is a two-time member of the MAC Fall Academic Honor Roll and three-time member of the MAC Winter and Spring Academic Honor Roll.  As a senior she was honored with one of eight Haier Achievement awards given to eight deserving student-athletes across all three divisions for achieving success beyond the classroom and was also named the Al Senavitis Service Award winner at DeSales for the second straight year.
 
Brandt has been active in mission trips since she was 15-years old.  She has done numerous trips to places such as Ghana, Haiti, and Honduras working in city hospitals, doing medical outreach missions, and assisting in mobile clinics.  Brandt hopes to one day start a clinic in Haiti with the goal of training Haitian healthcare professionals.
 
As a nominee for the Woman of the Year award, Brandt will be included in the pool of nominations that will be voted upon by conference and NCAA officials. Each conference can select up to two women to advance to an evaluation by the NCAA selection committee, with that committee then appointing 10 finalists from each Division I, II, and III for a final vote.
 
Each of the final 30 finalists will be honored at the NCAA annual ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 18, where the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.