Lena Lutzeier, a senior from Hawai‘i Pacific University, was named the 2018 DII Honda Athlete of the Year nominee for Tennis as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.
Lutzeier is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DII Honda Woman Athlete of the Year. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 42nd year.
“I am grateful to have had such a big impact on college tennis my last season and to be selected for this honor,” stated Lutzeier. “I am thankful for everyone that was on my side and supported me this year - without my team and coaches I wouldn’t have accomplished what I did this year!”
Lutzeier was named the 2018 ITA Senior Player of the Year and finished the season atop the ITA individual rankings as the top-ranked player on the year. She finished the year at 22-1 overall in singles and 19-5 overall in doubles. She was named the Player of the Year for the PacWest Conference and has earned ITA All-America honors in all four seasons of competition in singles and doubles.
The first team All-PacWest Conference senior from Blaustein, Germany, led her team to its first-ever PacWest Conference championship title in program history and was named Hawai‘i Pacific’s Female Athlete of the Year. She transferred to HPU after Armstrong State closed its athletics program last year. She was a two-time Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year and a three-time PBC All-Conference honoree.
“Lena is a fantastic student-athlete and so deserving of the Honda Athlete of the Year Award,” said HPU head coach Lauren Conching. “She’s a hard-working player in practice, a fierce competitor and outstanding student. She’s represented the tennis community and HPU at the highest level."
All Honda Sports nominees from DII and DIII become a finalist for the prestigious 2018 Honda Woman Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in a live telecast on CBS Sports on June 25, 2018, in downtown Los Angeles. The Honda Sports nominees are recognized in 11 DII and DIII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 42 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.