Volleyball player Bria Beale, a recent communication graduate, has been selected as the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo nominee for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year. Each school in all three NCAA divisions can select one nominee. The NCAA Woman of the Year honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of outstanding female college athletes.
Beale’s nomination moves on to the Pacific West Conference selection committee, where one female from the conference’s 11 universities will advance to the national ballot. That winner will be announced in August.
“Bria is an exceptional student-athlete who has excelled academically and athletically,” said her nominator, UH Hilo Compliance Office and Senior Woman Administrator Roxanne Levenson. “She has been very involved on campus and in the community and is a wonderful person as well. Overall, Bria stands out as one of the top student-athletes I have worked with and is very deserving of the honor.”
Beale, a three-time All-Pacific West Conference selection and First Team All-West Region selection, helped turn the Vulcan volleyball program around after transferring from the University of California, Irvine in 2018. Heading into her final collegiate season, she was all over the UH Hilo career record book. Her 977 career kills ranks sixth all-time, her 99 service aces is fifth and her 855 digs lists seventh in the Vulcan record book. She is also UH Hilo’s 2021 Female Athlete of the Year.
Beale was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Volleyball Team twice. She has a 3.90 grade point average and graduated this past spring with a BA in communications, a minor in sociology and an undergraduate certificate in agriculture. This fall Beale will pursue a graduate degree in counseling psychology.
Beale has also been active in campus and community service projects. She created a community support group during the pandemic, arranging virtual meetings for people to support and encourage each other. She and her volleyball teammates have provided meals for Hawaiʻi Island Home for Recovery and she has also been a peer educator for the UH Hilo Title IX office.
“Throughout my experience as a scholar athlete at UH Hilo, I learned invaluable lessons and have been inspired in numerous ways to have a positive impact on my community,” Beale said. “Being a student as well as an athlete shapes who I am in many different environments because those two roles intertwined require me to be diligent and have great time management.
“I am honored to be included with so many other nominees and great role models for this award.”
