GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference has nominated All-Americans Bria Matthews (Georgia Tech track & field) and Stefani Deschner (Notre Dame fencing) for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
“Bria and Stefani embody everything that is special about college athletics,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. “Throughout their respective careers, they have excelled in the classroom and in competition, while also setting the ultimate example in their commitment to community service. All of this year’s ACC Woman of the Year nominees are exceptional leaders, and we are proud of their significant accomplishments.”
Matthews will depart Georgia Tech as one of the most decorated athletes in program history for her accomplishments on and off the track.
In addition to earning six career All-America honors in the long jump and triple jump, the Morrow, Georgia, native received the Athletes for a Better World’s prestigious 2021 John Wooden Citizenship Cup, which is presented annually to four distinguished athletes – one collegiate, one professional or Olympic, and a male and female from the high school ranks – for their character and leadership both on and off the field.
A six-time ACC Champion (four indoor, two outdoor), including five titles in the triple jump, Matthews earned Most Outstanding Field Performer honors at this past spring’s ACC Outdoor Championship after earning a pair of silver medals for the seventh and eight podium finishes of her ACC career.
After an impressive freshman season on The Flats in which she claimed the 2016 ACC Indoor Championship in the long jump and triple jump, ACC Outdoor Championship (triple jump) and competed at the Olympic Trials, Matthews experienced a career-halting injury that sidelined her for nearly two years. Upon her full return in 2019, Matthews came back stronger, switching her plant leg, and went on to win three ACC titles and be named All-American on four more occasions.
Matthews has taken three international service trips during her time at Georgia Tech – traveling to the Dominican Republic with Fellowship of Christian Athletes to enhance a local community center and build a dugout at a baseball field, Costa Rica with Jackets Without Borders to construct a multipurpose court at a local school and Haiti to distribute prototypes of portable solar charge controllers to families in need.
Additionally, Matthews has donated time to organizations such as Girls on the Run, the Michael Isenhour Toy Drive and Junior Achievement Biztown.
A two-time Academic All-American (2019, 2020), Matthews earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech in electrical engineering in 2019 and received her master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering in May.
Deschner was named the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season after a successful senior year in which she helped Notre Dame to the 11th NCAA Fencing Championship in program history.
The Versailles, Kentucky, native continued her strong play on the strip after a breakout junior season. She completed an undefeated regular season with a 17-0 record heading into the NCAA Championships. At the NCAAs, Deschner advanced to the semifinals and defeated teammate Amita Berthier to advance to the foil finals. In the finals, she scored the first seven touches of the match and ended up claiming the foil championship, 15-9.
With the win, she claimed her first career individual championship and was the first women’s foil champion from Notre Dame since Olympic gold medalist Lee Kiefer back in 2017.
The co-executive chair of the ACC Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) mental health board, Deschner has organized additional mental health town halls, developed education modules, and created a mental health station to help direct student athletes to proper mental health professionals.
Deschner has also actively served as the fencing liaison with Fighting Irish Fight for Life (FIFL), an organization that pairs severely ill children with the university’s sports teams.
Having recently earned her a undergraduate degree in pre-professional studies and theology, Deschner has been accepted into three medical schools. She was a 2021 ACC Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, a three-time All-ACC Fencing Academic Team honoree and has made the Dean’s List seven times.
Matthews and Deschner emerged as the ACC’s 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year candidates following a vote of the league’s 15 member schools. The strong list of nominees from member institutions also included:
Boston College: Charlotte North (lacrosse)
Clemson: Cammy Pereira (softball)
Duke: Meible Chi (tennis) and Peyton St. George (softball)
Florida State: Nandini Das (tennis) and Taryn Knuth (volleyball)
Louisville: Makenli Forrest (track & field) and Meghan Schneider (field hockey)
Miami: Michelle Atherley (track & field) and Estela Perez-Somarriba (tennis)
North Carolina: Katie Hoeg (lacrosse) and Rachel Jones (soccer)
NC State: Olivia Calegan (swimming & diving) and Jaeda Daniel (tennis)
Pitt: Kayla Lund (volleyball) and Chinaza Ndee (volleyball)
Virginia: Paige Madden (swimming & diving)
Virginia Tech: Aisha Sheppard (Virginia Tech)
Wake Forest: Emilia Migliaccio (golf)
From the group of conference nominees, the top 10 will be chosen from each NCAA division in September. The selection committee then will determine the top three honorees from each division from the Top 30 and announce the nine finalists. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year, which will be announced this fall.
ACC member institutions claim three past NCAA Women of the Year honorees. Former Notre Dame soccer standout Elizabeth Tucker was named the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year. Wake Forest’s Annie Bersagel (cross county/track &field) was recognized in 2006, and Virginia’s Peggy Boutilier (field hockey/lacrosse) received the honor in 1998.