LA MIRADA, Calif. --- On Thursday the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) released 577 individual nominees for its prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Ines Diaz of Biola Women's Tennis and Sami Penor of Biola Women's Golf were among those recognized by the NCAA and are now under consideration for the major award. 

The NCAA Woman of the Year recognizes female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers.

The award was established in 1991 and is gaining even greater national attention this year with it being the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

Diaz and Penor become Biola's third and fourth student-athletes to earn the distinction as school selections for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. In 2020, during Biola's first year eligible, Madyson Brown of Biola Women's Soccer represented the institution. Last year, Kayla Neff from Biola Softball earned the recognition.

"Ines and Sami represent all that we hope for from our Biola student-athletes," said Associate Athletic Director Neil Morgan. "They each are fierce competitors and talented athletes, but more than that they are leaders among their peers, strong students and a treasured part of this community."

Diaz just completed her fourth season on Head Coach David Goodman's women's tennis team. She was a part of the revitalization of the program, seeing the team's win total grow from just nine during her freshman season to a dazzling 21-6 campaign in 2022.

Diaz was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and represented that group by serving on the Athletics Advisory Committee, which oversees operations of the intercollegiate athletics program as a whole.

Impressively, Diaz balanced an extremely rigorous biochemistry academic program alongside the demands of a competitive NCAA Division II tennis program during her four years here. She completed her program with a 3.7+ GPA and made the dean's list during each of her academic years at Biola.

"Ines embodies all that a student athlete should be in the NCAA," said Goodman. "She excelled in the classroom and made her academics top priority. At the same time, she is an excellent tennis player and worked hard to push herself and her teammates everyday. I know she got a lot out of her experience at Biola on and off the court."

In addition to her studies, committee work and athletics, Diaz was able to give back to the community by volunteering with the Special Olympics and other programs for three years. Diaz worked with wheelchair tennis athletes and other disabled athletes, teaching tennis skills and learning from their life experiences.

Diaz is an international student who came to Biola from Spain. She was proud to complete her degree while studying in her second language and was even more proud to represent a minority group: women in STEM.

"Being a student-athlete during my undergraduate studies has been instrumental in my overall growth," said Diaz. 

Sami Penor began her collegiate career with a bang by winning a national championship during her freshman year. Penor won the National Christian College Athletic Association individual title in the fall of 2018 by defeating her opponent in a playoff at the end of the three-round tournament.

That was a sign of the excitement that would follow Penor throughout her four years at Biola, culminating in her serving as the team captain leading to Biola's first-ever PacWest Conference Women's Golf Championship in 2021-22.

Penor played 77 competitive rounds for Biola and finished with a career scoring average of 76 strokes (+4). Prior to her career, the best-ever career scoring average from a Biola golfer was a full two strokes higher. 

In addition to that individual national championship, Penor was always competitive at the PacWest Conference level, finishing as high as fourth and earning three all-conference nods.

Similar to Diaz's experience with the tennis program's team success, Penor was instrumental in building up to a brand new level of success within the women's golf program. Her four seasons at BU are the four years with the lowest team scoring average in program history. The 2021-22 team averaged 304.94 over 31 rounds to set the new school record by three strokes.

"Sami has been one of the most delightful players to coach. I knew from her freshman year that she was not intimidated by competitive pressure and was going to have an amazing impact on our team," said Head Coach Jane Carr. "While being a serious competitor she is also one of the kindest players you will ever meet on the course. Sami is a great team leader who cares deeply about her teammates and always has a kind word of encouragement for others. She pursues life passionately and where Sami is there will always be a lot of laughter. This is an incredible honor to be nominated Athlete of the Year and there is no one more deserving than Sami."

Penor completed her degree in Cinema & Media Arts with a concentration in production. During her final two years she contributed as a part of the content creation team for Biola Athletics. Penor graduated with a 3.69 and was recently recognized as a Women's Golf Coaches' Association All-American Scholar.

"As a golfer, we are taught early how to hold ourselves with discipline, focus, and integrity through the game. As a golfer for Biola University, I was taught how to do all of those things through the grace of God in order to be a light for others," said Penor "My favorite part of the Biola experience has been the friendships that I have made at this school while growing my game of golf as well as my faith in God".

Penor is a Nevada native who volunteered her time with Hope For The City during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver food and groceries during the lockdown to seniors, under-priveleged communities and at-risk families. 

Other community involvement includes golf/athletic clinics at a local elementary school, free live scoring at the local country club and shopping and donating baby supplies for families in need through Boxes of Love.

Following their nominations from Biola, Diaz and Penor are now eligible to become the conference nominee, which will be determined and announced in August.

The conference offices will then select up to two student-athletes from their member school nominations. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee will then select 10 student-athletes from each division, determining the Top 30 honorees.

To learn more about the award program and previous winners, visit ncaa.org/woty.