BALTIMORE, Md. – The Notre Dame of Maryland 2016-17 athletic season came to a close Friday evening at the department's annual student-athlete banquet.  The night celebrated the accomplishments of all Notre Dame student-athletes both on and off the field/court.  The celebration concluded with three student-athletes earning the departmental awards.

Senior Cleaya Antes earned the Sister Bernice Feilinger Award for Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete.  Cleaya was a dominate force for the Gators throughout her four seasons on the volleyball team.  In her rookie season, she earned Notre Dame's first CSAC Rookie of the Year honor, ranking as high as seventh overall in the NCAA for digs per set that season.   All four years, she has been named to a CSAC All-Conference team, earning First-Team ALL-CSAC twice and Second-Team and Honorable Mention once.  Throughout her four seasons, she has also held several top 25 national statistical rankings for digs and aces. A four-year starter, three-year captain, and two-time winner of the Sister Patricia McLaughlin award, she has left her mark in the Notre Dame record books securing several match records in digs and aces, while finishing her career second in career-digs with 1,694 and fifth in aces with 235.  In her senior season, she earned the inaugural CSAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, leading the conference in digs per set.  She helped lead the volleyball team to four playoff appearances, ending her career with the team's first ever playoff victory at Marywood.  She is a Dean's list and CSAC All-Academic student in the nursing program.

The Mary Laverty Funke Award for Spirit, Dedication, and Scholarship was awarded to junior Lindsey Webb, a three-sport athlete this season.  Lindsey is well known across campus for her dedication to the Notre Dame community, a member or on the executive board of over seven different programs at Notre Dame.  This year, she joined the basketball team, mid-season to help the team who was struggling with injuries.  Lindsey's commitment to her sports and education is clear to those around her.  She is a Business Major with over a 3.5 GPA and she has received three fall CSAC All-Academic recognitions.  This season she was named to CSAC all-sportsmanship team for soccer and voted Most Improved Player for her role on defensive end on the lacrosse team.

Sophomore Megan Morales was awarded the Sister Patricia Mclauglin Award for Outstanding Underclass Athlete.  This year she was a two-sport standout that received end of the year CSAC honors in both sports.  As a member of the field hockey team, she led the team in goals, points, and shots, earning CSAC Weekly Honors in the first week of play.  She was named to the CSAC Honorable Mention and All-Sportsmanship teams.  On the lacrosse field, she finished the season with two top-25 NCAA statistical rankings, while leading the conference in goals, points, and draw controls per game.  She was named CSAC Player of the Week and was named to the Weekly Honor roll throughout the season.  Helping lead the team to the playoffs, she earned First Team All-CSAC honors to close out the year. In her sophomore season, she recorded her 100th goal and has moved into 10th place in Notre Dame's record books for career-goals.

During the banquet, each team awarded student-athletes with special team awards:

2016-17 Basketball

MVP: Dania Taylor
Most Outstanding Player: Zaria Comer
Coaches Award: Ashley Guy

2016 Cross Country

Most Valuable Athlete: Jane Lebherz
Most Improved Athlete: Jasmine Wise
Coaches Award: Micah Castelo
 
2016 Field Hockey

MVP: Megan Morales
Most Improved Player: Kayla Becker
Unsung Hero: Deja Martin
 
2017 Softball

Most Outstanding Player: Sydney Salgado
Most Improved Player: Darby King
Coaches Award: Naudiya Hopkins
 
2016 Soccer

MVP:  Raeden McCullough
Most Improved Player:  Hannah Woodworth
Coaches Award:  Brittany Smith
 
2017 Lacrosse

Most Valuable Player: Megan Morales
Most Improved Player: Lindsey Webb
Best Teammate Award: Briana Johnson
 
2016 Volleyball

MVP: Cleaya Antes
Most Improved Player: Kayleigh Davis
Best Teammate: Margaret Pedersen
 
2016 Tennis

MVP: Liz Tran
Most Improved Player: Catherine Bruzdzinski
Coaches Award: Carrie Naylor
 
Images for the Student-Athlete Athletics Banquet can be found here.  Images by Christian Kendzierski, Director of University Communications.