Aug. 9, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Cosmina Ciobanu has been named to the NCAA Woman of the Year honoree list. Ciobanu becomes the first Irish woman to represent the BIG EAST Conference on the ballot since Notre Dame joined the conference in ’95-96.
The award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Each conference assessed each nominee’s eligibility and selected a conference nominee based on collective achievements in service, leadership, athletics and academics. All conference nominees were then forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which will choose the top 10 honorees in each division.
From among those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. Finally, members of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year.
To be eligible for the award, female student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2010 spring season, graduated no later than the end of the summer 2010 term and achieved a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5.
The top 10 honorees per division will be announced in August, followed by the top three honorees by division in September. The top 30 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III will be honored and the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on October 17.
Ciobanu joins Phylicia George of Connecticut as the two representatives of the BIG EAST Conference and is one of 41 Division I women to make the initial ballot.
Ciobanu, a native of Brea, Calif., enjoyed a stellar career at Notre Dame both on and off the tennis court. She earned all-BIG EAST honors in both `09 and `10 and was named to the conference’s all-tournament team for both singles and doubles in `08. She helped the Irish win BIG EAST Conference championships each of the past three seasons. A four-time NCAA team participant, Ciobanu led the Irish to an NCAA quarterfinal appearance in `07 and NCAA semifinal trips in `09 and `10, marking the highest finishes in program history.
A two-time recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete award, Ciobanu finished her career with a singles record of 112-31 and a 112-30 mark in doubles action. A mainstay in the Irish lineup for four seasons, Ciobanu has career-high Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings of 31st (singles) and 39th (doubles) and set Notre Dame’s single-season dual-match winning percentage record with a 26-1 singles mark in 2007, a feat that earned her the Monogram Club MVP Award. Ciobanu earned co-MVP honors this season after compiling a 24-3 singles mark and a 19-5 record in doubles action.
Ciobanu rounded out her Irish career being named to the ESPN The Magazine/ CoSIDA Academic all-District Five At-Large first team and later placed on the CoSIDA Academic All-American second-team ballot. She was also granted a Monogram Club Postgraduate Scholarship from Notre Dame.
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