PHOENIX, Ariz. – For their outstanding effort in the classroom and in the arena of athletic competition, the Pacific West Conference has selected its six top women’s scholar athletes for 2010-11. The PacWest made the announcement on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011, from its conference media office in Phoenix, Ariz.

The following student-athletes were voted Scholar Athlete of the Year in their respective PacWest sport and now will appear on the conference ballot for the overall PacWest Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year.

• Women’s Basketball: Samantha Murphy (Grand Canyon University)
• Women’s Cross Country: Lacey Johnson Krout (Brigham Young University Hawai‘i)
• Women’s Soccer: Emily Mearns (Brigham Young University Hawai‘i)
• Softball: Montana Lucas (Grand Canyon University)
• Women’s Tennis: Hewenfei (Elwen) Li Boud (Brigham Young University Hawaii)
• Women’s Volleyball: Tanya Alvino (Chaminade University of Honolulu)

The sports information directors of the conference nominate and vote on the PacWest Scholar Athlete of the Year awards. The same group will vote this week on the overall PacWest Women’s Scho lar Athlete of the Year honor.

Women’s Basketball:

Samantha Murphy – Grand Cayon (Sr., 5-8, G, 3.97 GPA, Phoenix, AZ/Xavier Prep) – The pre-physical therapy major was named the Daktronics, Inc., Division II and Division II Bulletin National Player of the Year, and a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-America after leading the nation in scoring and free-throw shooting.

 She was selected First Team All-PacWest for the fourth consecutive year and was named the PacWest Player of the Year for the second straight season. She is the two-time PacWest Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and PacWest Women’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year, and was named the Phoenix Women’s Sports Association Athlete of the Year and PacWest Female Athlete of the Year in 2010-11.

Women’s Cross Country:
Lacey (Johnson) Krout – BYU-Hawaii (Jr., 5-3, 3.98 GPA, Preston, ID/Preston) – The business management major earned All-PacWest First Team honors after taking second place at the 2010 conference championship race. She also finished second in two other regular-season meets, grabbed 23^rd at NCAA II West Regional, and finished 88^th at the NCAA II Nationals.

 Women’s Soccer:

Emily Mearns – BYU-Hawaii (Sr., 5-6, F, 3.53 GPA, San Ramon, CA/California) – The international cultural studies major claimed four straight All-PacWest First Team honors while setting the all-time career scoring record at BYU-Hawaii. She earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Second Team accolade s and was named the PacWest Player of the Week on Aug. 30, 2010.

Softball:

Montana Lucas – Grand Canyon (Sr., 1B/3B, 3.7 GPA, (Glendale, AZ/Cactus) – The criminal justice major was named to the 2011 Daktronics, Inc. Division II All-West Region Second Team and to the All-PacWest First Team as a utility player.

 She led GCU in RBI (43, tied for fourth in the PacWest); was second on the team in home runs (7) and slugging percentage (.549); was tied for second in doubles (10, eighth in the PacWest); and finished third in runs (27), hits (47) and total bases (78).

She started 41 of 41 games played this season and posted a .342 on-base percentage with 84 putouts, 53 assists and a .932 fielding percentage.

Women’s Tennis:

Hewenfei (Elwen) Li Boud – BYU-Hawaii (Sr., 5-7, R, 3.86 GPA, Chengdu, China) – The exercise and sport science major was named a First Team All-American four years in a row at both singles and doubles, and was selected First Team All-PacWest for four straight years also in singles and doubles play. She was tabbed as the ITS NCAA II Senior Player of the Year this season and was selected the Women’s Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year in the PacWest in 2010.

Women’s Volleyball:

Tanya Alvino – Chaminade (Sr., 3.93, Brentwood, CA/Liberty) – The accounting major was a leader on the court as the starting setter for Chaminade’s volleyball team, and she displayed tremendous leadership abilities off the court as well.

Alvino graduated in May of 2011 with a 3.93 GPA in accounting and served on the Chaminade Student Athlete Advisory Committee as both its president and past treasurer.

She was named the Outstanding Graduate in Business Administration at Chaminade this year; was the Second Runner Up in the Students in Free Enterprise Competition presented at the Faculty Network Symposium in Washington D.C.; and was the recipient of the Community Impact Award in 2010. Now an alumnae of Chaminade, Alvino was selected as a featured speaker at Chaminade’s Spring 2011 Commencement.

The Silversword volleyball standout was a 2009 and 2010 PacWest All-Academic selection, as well as the 2010 Pac West Women’s Volleyball Scholar Athlete of the Year. She accumulated 3,272 assists in her career and was a 2010 All-Pac West Honorable Mention selection.