LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- In exclusive voting by the senior woman administrators of the conference, Isabelle Aragon-Menzel of Colorado College has been selected Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Co-Woman of the Year.
Aragon-Menzel will share this year’s award with Ally Longaker of Austin College.
In addition to being recognized as SCAC Woman of the Year, both will be nominated for the 31st annual NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.
Aragon-Menzel becomes Colorado College’s second SCAC Woman of the Year honoree since the institution joined the conference prior to the 2006-07 academic year. Melanie Auguste earned a share of the award in 2009.
A senior setter from Chanhassen, Minn., Aragon-Menzel graduated from CC in May with a 3.95 grade point average as a Sociology major. At the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year, she was awarded the Lauren Golden Award which is given annually to the top senior female student-athlete at Colorado College.
Aragon-Menzel was a four-time SCAC Academic Honor Roll selection and capped her senior year by earning the league’s Elite 19 award for volleyball. She also received recognition as a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for her performances on the court and in the classroom for the 2020-21 season.
A two-year captain for head coach Rick Swan, Aragon-Menzel earned First Team All-SCAC honors this season, leading the league in assists per set (9.46), and was named the league’s Setter-of-the-Year as she helped propel Colorado College to the SCAC regular season and tournament titles. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2020-21 conference championship which capped the Tigers’ perfect 17-0 season and saw the program finish as the top ranked team in the nation in the final AVCA Division III Coaches Poll.
“Belle was one of the top student-athletes I had the pleasure to coach at CC,” said Colorado College former head volleyball coach Rick Swan. “She was a great teammate and a natural leader both on and off the court. She was one of the hardest working players to ever come through our program. Whether in the gym, the weight room or working on her studies her passion to be the best at everything she did was amazing. We are so proud and happy for Belle as she is so deserving of this award.”
Away from the court, Aragon-Menzel was a member of the CC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as chair in 2020-21 – heading the group’s Change for the Better campaign among other initiatives. She also served as a Campus Writing Center Peer Tutor and volunteered off campus as a Gifted and Talented Tutor at North Middle School and as an English as Second Language Tutor at Palmer High School. Aragon-Menzel also volunteered with TESSA – a local organization for survivors of domestic violence.
When asked to summarize her time as a student-athlete at Colorado College, Aragon-Menzel emphasized the role that love played in her experience.
“I’ve learned that to affect change in an influential and genuine way, you must do it with love,” said Aragon-Menzel. “It is this type of love I brought to my academics, athletics and community at Colorado College. I brought a love for the game, for the people around me, and for the pursuit of knowledge in the name of equality and liberation during my time there. It was this kind of love that I believe shaped both myself and those around me, whether that was on the court, in the classroom, or around campus.”
Aragon-Menzel and Longaker were two of five outstanding nominees considered by the SCAC Woman of the Year Committee. The other candidates were:
- Tacoya Allen, basketball, Centenary College
- Skylar Ouellette, softball, Texas Lutheran University
- Zoe Kaffen, tennis, Trinity University
As SCAC co-winners, Aragon-Menzel and Longaker will both be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, one of the most prestigious honors the NCAA bestows. The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership.
All conference nominees will be forwarded to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 nominees in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the top three in each division. From the nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then selects the NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.
In conjunction with the changes in the nomination process for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Woman of the Year award was established for the 2005-06 athletic season. Beginning in 2006, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) started receiving conference-designated nominees in lieu of the previous institution- and state-based nomination format.
From 1991 to 2005, each state had a woman of the year honoree and from that group 10 finalists were selected. From the top-10 finalists, the national winner was then chosen. Since 2006, each conference and independent school forwards nominations to the NCAA.
To read about past winners of the SCAC Woman-of-the-Year award, click here.
2020 - DeAnna Hernandez, softball, Texas Lutheran University / Abby Holland, basketball, Trinity University
2018 - Britney Sullivan, outdoor track and field, Trinity University
2017 - Amanda Lochte, softball, Texas Lutheran University
2015 - Emily Jorgens, soccer, Trinity University
2013 - Rachel Thibodeau, volleyball, Southwestern University
