Big South Announces 2023-24 Woman of the Year Co-Honorees
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – The Big South Conference announced today that Winthrop golfer
Valentine Savioz (Montreux, Switzerland) and High Point basketball player
Callie Scheier (Clemmons, N.C.) have been named the Big South Conference’s co-honorees for Woman of the Year for 2023-24. The conference’s Woman of the Year award is sponsored by Big South Corporate Partner
Musco Sports Lighting.
The Big South’s Woman of the Year Selection Committee voted Savioz and Scheier the co-honorees among the nine candidates nominated for the award. The Committee used criteria of Service and Leadership (including community services, campus activities and leadership positions), Academic Achievement, Athletics Excellence and a Personal Statement from each candidate. As the Big South’s Woman of the Year, Savioz and Scheier are the conference’s official nominees for the national NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Savioz played in four events in 2023-24 and finished the year with an 85.10 stroke average across her 10 rounds. She concluded her four years at Winthrop with 68 rounds played and an 80.87 career stroke average, along with four Top 10 finishes. Her best season was as a freshman in 2020-21, as she earned All-Conference and All-Freshman honors after concluding the year ranked 12th in the Big South with a 76.53 stroke average and was among the league leaders with three Top 10s. Savioz earned her Biology degree this past May and graduated with a 3.83 GPA, and plans to pursue a master's in biomedical research with a specialization in neurosciences at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, with the goal of contributing to research and teaching.
Away from the golf course, Savioz was involved in Winthrop Athletics’ annual Trunk-or-Treat event for local children, volunteered at York Elementary School, was a four-year member of Winthrop’s SAAC, was an International Ambassador for Winthrop, and assisted at a Youth Golf Clinic during the summer of 2021 in her home country. She also shadowed and volunteered with various pharmaceutical professionals in both Rock Hill and in Switzerland during her years as a collegian. Additional achievements include the J.A. Knox Scholarship (2022-2024), Winthrop Blue Line Scholarship (2020-2024), International Ambassador Scholarship (2023), four Women’s Golf Coach Association All-American Scholar honors, and Big South Women’s Golf All-Academic Team recognition. Last September, Savioz assisted with a scientific presentation on the effects of MicroRNAs on RYBP Downregulation in Glioblastoma Cells. She conducted undergraduate research in the summer of 2023 on brain cancer in the laboratory of Daniel Stovall, Ph.D., where she developed proficiency in various molecular and cellular biology lab techniques, read and discussed scientific literature, maintained a laboratory notebook, and collaborated with teammates to answer novel research questions. Savioz also performed research in a laboratory within the Science Education Alliance-Genes program in the laboratory of Victoria Frost, Ph.D., from January-May 2023, where she investigated bacteriophages using genetic engineering, molecular cloning, phenotypic assays, and phage protein/host protein interaction analyses.
Scheier helped High Point capture the Big South Women’s Basketball Regular-Season Championship in 2023-24, as well as the league’s first-ever appearance in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). She played in 31 games in her final season, making 13 starts along the way and averaged 4.9 points in 20.0 minutes of action. Scheier was second on the squad with 58 assists, and averaged 2.5 rebounds while shooting 76.5 percent from the free throw line (26-of-34) and made 38.0 percent from three-point range (30-of-79). During her HPU career, she appeared in 131 contests -- tied for 11th-most in Big South history, and scored 826 points, made 182 three-pointers, and handed out 191 assists in 3,064 career minutes played. She graduated with a 3.90 GPA as a Human Relations major, and earned her master’s degree this past spring in Communications and Business Leadership with a 3.92 GPA.
Scheier served on the NCAA Women's Basketball Engagement Committee in 2023-24, and was also selected for the WBCA's annual "So You Want To Be A Coach Program" at this past year's Final Four in Cleveland. Scheier also supported the High Point community with her involvement in the Feral Cat Assistance Program, served on High Point's SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee), and participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters. As a Panther, she was not only the SAAC President but also a three-time Big South Conference Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team honoree as well as being named to the 2023 Division I-AAA ADA Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Team. As a six-time High Point University Millis Scholar-Athlete award winner, she earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors in 2023-24, and was also a two-time Big South Conference Commissioner's Award winner for achieving a 4.0 GPA during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. Scheier capped her success at HPU being named the 2024 High Point University Service-Learning Student of the Year. This past June, Scheier was named HPU Women's Basketball Director of Player Development entering the 2024-25 season.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service, and leadership throughout their college careers.
Also nominated for the Big South and NCAA Woman of the Year award were Charleston Southern softball player
Blake Holtorf (San Antonio, Texas), Longwood softball player
Lauren Fox (Ashburn, Va.), Presbyterian College softball player
Kaitlyn Tucker (Oakboro, N.C.), Radford lacrosse goalkeeper
Olivia Hunter (Mechanicsville, Va.), Radford soccer player
Helena Willson (Leesburg, Va.), UNC Asheville track & field athlete
Mallory Haney (Irmo, S.C.), and USC Upstate soccer goalkeeper
Cora Brendle (Boiling Springs, S.C.).
The NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees -- 10 from each division -- from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in the fall. The selection committee will then determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced in November. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year. The honorees will be celebrated at the Woman of the Year Award Ceremony at the NCAA Convention in Nashville in January. The Big South had its first national finalist in 2005 when Big South Hall of Famer
Janiva Willis of Winthrop was named one of the 10 finalists.