Indianapolis, Ind. - Announced this afternoon by the NCAA, former Swarthmore volleyball player Emma Morgan-Bennett has been selected as a Top nine finalist for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Morgan-Bennett is the third Swarthmore player to be named a finalist in the past six years, joining soccer player Marin McCoy (2019) and swimmer Supriya Davis (2015).
Nine former college athletes have been selected as finalists for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The nine finalists, three women from each NCAA division, were selected for their outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, community service, and leadership.
Finalists were chosen from the Top 30 Woman of the Year honorees, who represent 10 honorees from each division and 14 sports, including two emerging sports. In 2020, schools nominated 605 graduating female student-athletes for this prestigious award.
The finalists and Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during a virtual awards show on Friday, November 13. The show will be streamed on the NCAA Twitter account and ncaa.org/woty, and it will be streamed by ESPN.
Emma Morgan-Bennett’s Biography
School: Swarthmore College
Conference: Centennial Conference
Sport: Volleyball
Major: Medical anthropology
Hometown: New York City
“As an athlete, I knew volleyball would strengthen my fitness and competitive spirit. However, I underestimated how it would develop my skills as a resilient leader, a collaborative community member, and a fearless advocate for equity.”
Swarthmore middle blocker Emma Morgan-Bennett earned honorable mention American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America honors in 2018 and honorable mention all-region honors in 2019. Morgan-Bennett contributed to a quarterfinals run in the 2017 NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship. The two-time Academic All-Centennial Team member was named a 2020 Marshall Scholar, one of 46 Americans invited to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Morgan-Bennett was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 2020 and graduated with high honors. Her undergraduate thesis on doulas and the black maternal mortality crisis was recognized by the Telluride Foundation and helped her win the 2020 William and Sophie Bramson Prize, given to an outstanding graduate majoring in sociology and anthropology. Morgan-Bennett was co-president of the Swat Doulas student group and worked as a volunteer doula, serving marginalized populations. She founded Athletics for Diversity and Inclusion, a coalition that centralizes conversations surrounding athletes’ identities and organizes campus-wide events, educational programming, and community service. Morgan-Bennett also co-founded and served as executive director for Eat at the Table Theatre Company, a nonprofit that allows young actors of color to explore and celebrate race through repurposed and original theater pieces. Throughout college, she was the Swarthmore Athletics Department intern for diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Other 2020 Woman of the Year Stories:
NCAA Woman of the Year Top 9 Finalists Press Release
Centennial Conference WOTY Top 30 Release from September 17, 2020
NCAA Woman of the Year Top 30 Honorees Press Release
Centennial Conference WOTY Release from July 10, 2020
Centennial Conference Corner Video