CAVALIER AWARDS 2022 - A LOOK BACK AT THE YEAR'S GREATEST

By Chloe Burdette

05.02.22

WISE, VA — The Annual UVA Wise 2022 Cavalier Awards were held on Monday, May 2 with an in-person ceremony — the first in-person event in over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ceremony honored the best athletes, supporters, coaches, and moments from the 2021-2022 athletic seasons in seven categories — Outstanding Service, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Play of the Year, Male and Female Athlete of the Year, and Cavalier of the Year.

The winners are featured below. Be sure to keep up with UVA Wise social media for exclusive content, pictures, updates, and more!

OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

The Outstanding Service Award recognizes any faculty, staff or friend of the College (outside of athletics) who has contributed to the growth and development of the athletic department through participation and involvement in enhancing the quality of student-athlete experiences at UVA Wise. Sarah Hubbard is one of the main reasons why athletics was able to function these past two years. She has conducted COVID-19 testing for UVA Wise student-athletes since November of 2020, and has aided in prevalence testing for all students for the 2021-22 school year. Additionally, Hubbard aided in providing a healthy relationship between the health wagon and our student-athletes and provided another resource in keeping our players healthy on and off the playing field and court. The dedication she gave to our athletic department while balancing her responsibilities at the health wagon and in the classroom is inspiring, and we cannot thank her enough for all she has done for UVA Wise Athletics.

Hubbard tested student-athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure their safety on and off the playing field.

Sarah’s contributions were fundamental in helping UVA Wise navigate through the pandemic and enhancing student-athlete success this year.

Dr. Kendall Rainey, Director of Athletics

TEAM OF THE YEAR

The Team of the Year award is given to a team that has had an outstanding season — displaying unity, togetherness, and sportsmanship on and off the court. They are model representatives for UVA Wise and have met or exceeded their goals this year.

The 2021-2022 UVA Wise women's basketball team (Photo Credit: Earl Neikirk)

The women’s basketball team rallied from a 3-11 start to the season to finish the regular season at 12-14 and qualify for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Jamie Cluesman’s team knocked off a nationally ranked foe inside the Prior Center for a second consecutive season when the team scored a 75-59 win over No. 23 Catawba College on Senior Day.

Additionally, the student-athletes and their coaches continued to make a tremendous impact in the community and on campus through various initiatives. This winter, the team honored Indigenous Women, participated in Play4Kay, partnered with Donate Life to support organ and tissue donation, and was heavily involved in Black History Month. In the community, the team has been involved with local elementary schools, including an ice cream initiative that provided snacks to local youngsters.

COACH OF THE YEAR

The Coach of the Year award is presented to the coach who has most successfully led their program this year. It recognizes outstanding efforts by the coach and exceptional service to the athletic department and the College. Additionally, the coach has shown consistent dedication to all aspects of the sport and strives for improvement every season on and off the field.

The UVA Wise baseball team went 18-32 on the 2022 season under first-year Head Coach Brandon Costa.

In his first season as head coach, Brandon Costa led the baseball team to a 13-win improvement from its 2021 record. Under his leadership, the baseball team posted an 11-8 record at Stallard Field. Additionally, the team hit 42 homers this season, four shy of the single-season team record as senior Tyler Campbell established a new single-season program record with 16 home runs. The season was highlighted by a 7-2 homestand that saw the program take 2-of-3 from Lincoln Memorial University and sweep a four-game set from Salem International.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

The Freshman of the Year award recognizes the student-athlete who, in their first year of intercollegiate competition, has excelled in their sport and made significant contributions to their team.

The first-year baseball standout only recorded 15 strikeouts in his debut season (Photo Credit: Savanna Scher)

DJ Dickson had one of the best seasons in school history in his first collegiate campaign. The Southampton, Pa. native hit an NCAA Division II era program record .432 while establishing a new single-season school record with a .526 on-base percentage. DJ slugged .611 this spring while lining 12 doubles, a triple, and a homer. Possibly his most remarkable accomplishment is that he walked 17 times while striking out just 15 times.

PLAY OF THE YEAR

The Play of the Year award recognizes the student-athlete who made a remarkable play on the field or court during the 2021-2022 athletic season.

Jenna McDermott lined a game-winning homer to lift the softball team to a 3-2 win over No. 21 Anderson on March 3, 2022.

MALE & FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

The Athlete of the Year award recognizes the male and female student-athlete who has excelled most this year. The student has shown consistent dedication to their sport while striving for constant self-improvement. The player has excelled as an athlete and has contributed significantly to the success of their team.

Chavon Fields earned First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference honors after a senior season that saw him lead the Cavaliers in tackles for loss with 14 while also posting a team-high six sacks.

Fields' play was key in UVA Wise’s 30-7 win over Catawba when he registered four tackles for loss, including three sacks while adding a forced fumble and a fumble recovery as the defense limited Catawba to just 40 yards of total offense.

Liza Akimenko, along with sister Katya Akimenko, were ranked in the national top 50 doubles teams announced by the ITA on April 17, 2022.

Liza earned Second-Team All-SAC honors as a singles player as she posted a 15-5 record this season. In doubles play, she teamed with sister Katya to go 13-3 as the pair earned all-conference honors in a senior season that saw the duo become nationally ranked.

Liza and Katya teamed up for a 6-2 win at Queens when the Royals were ranked No. 11 nationally as a team while the duo also posted a 6-3 win at LMU when the Railsplitters were ranked No. 28 nationally.

CAVALIER OF THE YEAR

The Cavalier of the Year award is presented to the student-athlete who is distinguished academically and athletically and embodies the core attributes of NCAA Division II: Learning, Balance, Resourcefulness, Sportsmanship, Passion, and Service. This student-athlete shows school spirit and supports their peers and the athletic department.

As well as serving as a four-year letter winner on the tennis team, Grace Hall has excelled in the classroom and in the community.

A biology major who has a 3.5 grade point average, she has served as the president of SAAC while also helping organize volunteer work with Norton Elementary school.

Additionally, Grace helped raise money for Make a Wish through SAAC and was the driving force behind awarding student-athlete stoles for commencement exercises.