INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Former BYU women’s volleyball All-American middle blocker Amy Boswell Usevitch was among the student-athletes recognized yesterday as a Top 30 honoree for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The Top 30 honorees were selected from among a record 581 nominees submitted by NCAA institutions. The honorees include 10 female student-athletes from each of the three NCAA Divisions I, II and III. Boswell Usevitch was one of just 10 female athletes selected from among the 371 Division I schools.
Criteria for consideration includes excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. As a group, the honorees for 2018 competed in 13 sports and studied a broad range of academic majors, including finance, biochemistry, microbiology, kinesiology, nursing and communication.
“I congratulate Amy on this nomination and am so proud of everything she’s accomplished,” said Heather Olmstead, BYU women’s volleyball head coach. “She is the epitome of what a student-athlete is all about. She held herself to high standards in the classroom and on the court while at BYU. Each and every day Amy came to the gym, I knew she was going to give 100-percent effort to her teammates and coaches. She is an amazing person with a bright future ahead of her.”
In four seasons at BYU, Boswell Usevitch helped lead the Cougars to three WCC Championships and four-straight NCAA Sweet 16 finishes, including an appearance in the NCAA National Championship game and a runner-up finish in 2014.
As a senior, Boswell Usevitch was named an AVCA First-Team All-American and honored as the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for women’s volleyball. She was also the recipient of the 2017 West Coast Conference Mike Gilleran Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, becoming the first women’s student-athlete from BYU to receive the prestigious award.
Boswell Usevitch was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team as a sophomore, junior and senior. She was also named an All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in each of those three seasons. At the 2014 NCAA Volleyball Championships, she was the recipient of the Elite 89 Award—presented by the NCAA.
In addition, she was also a three-time All-WCC First Team selection as a sophomore, junior and senior, and was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year during her junior year. As a sophomore, Boswell Usevitch was the No. 2 blocker in the nation, averaging 1.68 blocks per set and finished her career with the fifth-highest hitting percentage in BYU rally-scoring era history.
Boswell Usevitch completed her nursing degree, with a minor in gerontology at BYU in December 2017 with a cumulative grade point average of 3.87. While attending BYU, she volunteered in various hospitals, including hundreds of hours in the emergency room at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah, in preparation for her nursing career. She also traveled to Sapa, Vietnam, to teach the people about first aid and hygiene.
“I feel incredibly honored to even be nominated for this award,” said Boswell Usevitch. “When I look at the female student-athletes throughout the country, they are so impressive in what they have contributed to their sport and their communities. I’m humbled to be considered with such an amazing group. I know there is no way I could have been successful at BYU without the help of so many people—family, coaches, teammates, professors and administrators who mentored and guided me the whole way. I’m very grateful to everyone.”
“These 30 women have demonstrated outstanding commitment to excelling in the classroom and in their sports while also serving their peers and communities,” said Sherika Montgomery, chair of the Woman of the Year selection committee and associate commissioner for governance and compliance at The Summit League. “They represent the best and brightest of women competing in college and sports, and we’re thrilled to celebrate them and their achievements.”