INDIANAPOLIS - Recent graduate,
Tess Muneses '23 was named a 2022-23 Top 30 Finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award announced by the National Collegiate Athletics Association's selection committee on Monday afternoon.
Established in 1991, the award is rooted in Title IX and recognizes female student-athletes who have completed their undergraduate studies and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.
Selected from a record-breaking 619 nominees submitted by member schools — a group that was then narrowed to 164 nominees at the conference level — the Top 30 honorees include 10 from each of the three NCAA divisions.
In the 33rd year of the NCAA Woman of the Year honor, Washington and Lee University field hockey standout
Tess Muneses is just the sixth student-athlete to represent W&L inside the Top 30 list. Of the Top 30 honorees, who were evaluated on the four pillars of Academics, Athletics, Service and Leadership, the honorees across the three divisions posted an averaged GPA of 3.88 and represented 15 different sports.
The Howard County, Md., native most recently was named DC3A Region Athlete of the Year, the ODAC's Marjorie Berkley Award winner, and earned the Washington and Lee William McHenry Women's Sport Scholar-Athlete Award as the top academic honor for W&L athletics.
A double-major in mathematics and economics, Muneses won the Elizabeth B. Garrett Scholarship from Washington and Lee, one of just two awarded in 2022.
A member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon international economics honor society, Muneses maintained a 3.937 grade point average. She was an eight-time W&L Scholar-Athlete and four-time honoree by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) as a Scholar-Athlete of Distinction. She will soon earn a fourth ODAC All-Academic Team nod to go with three W&L Presidents List selections, a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honor, and the 2023 ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for field hockey.
Around campus and in her various communities, Muneses was an active figure. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, served as Vice President for Recruitment as well as Vice President of Operations for W&L's Panhellenic Council. Muneses was a peer mentor in both economics and microeconomics. She was treasurer for W&L's "Fancy Dress" traditional event, a member of the W&L Compost Crew, and a Campus Kitchen volunteer.
On the field, Muneses was a four-time All-ODAC honoree including three All-ODAC First Team nods and a selection as the 2022 ODAC Offensive Player of the Year. She was a NFHCA First Team All-American each of the past two years and a Synapse Sports Second Team All-American this past season. Muneses graduated as the all-time assists leader at W&L with 27. The Generals' former midfielder sits in seventh in career points with 89 and started all 67 games played over her four-year career. Muneses helped Washington and Lee field hockey to a pair of NCAA Tournament second round appearances and the two best seasons by win total in program history with records of 17-3 in 2022 and 18-1 in 2021.
Next, the selection committee will determine three honorees from each NCAA division, for a total of nine finalists. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year. The NCAA Woman of the Year will be named, and the Top 30 will be celebrated, at the NCAA Convention in January.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conferences championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
