INDIANA, Pa. – Senior Natalie Cignetti has been named the 2017-18 IUP Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced Tuesday, June 5 by the IUP Athletic Department.
 
The awards is part of the Crimson & Gray Awards, which recognize the top athletes, coaches, teams and performances of the IUP Athletics season. The Awards are in their second year of existence.

RELATED | IUP Scholar-Athlete past winners
RELATED | 2017-18 Crimson & Gray Awards

Cignetti graduated summa cum laude in May with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average as a natural science major with a concentration in pre-med. She also double minored in chemistry and studio art. The IUP Provost Scholar earned her first career CoSIDA Academic All-America® honor in the fall and is a two-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Top 10 honoree.
 
On the court, Cignetti earned All-America status and was named the 2017 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Volleyball Athlete of the Year, leading the Crimson Hawks to a Southwest Division title and to the program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2010. She led the PSAC in kills (488), kills per set (4.28), points (546.5) and points per set (4.79).
 
One of the best players in program history, Cignetti was a three-time All-PSAC performer who finished her career second all-time with a 3.67 kills per game average and 1,267 career kills.
 
Cignetti has been accepted into the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and will start in July.
 
About the Scholar-Athlete Award
The Scholar-Athlete of the Year is given to an IUP men's and women's senior for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. To be eligible, the student-athlete must graduate in May of that year, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher, and be a starter or valuable contributor for an IUP varsity team.
 
About the Crimson & Gray Awards
The Crimson & Gray Awards are in their second year of existence and consist of 18 total categories - nine women, nine men - with top performers and performances from the 2017-18 year eligible.
 
Continuing from their inaugural year, awards include: Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Performance of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, Postseason Performer of the Year, Senior of the Year, Team of the Year and Athlete of the Year.

The IUP Sports Information Office collected award nominations from its coaches, with those nominees voted on by a select panel to narrow each category down to three finalists. That panel votes again to determine the winners.
 
Up next
The 2017-18 IUP Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be announced at 2:30 p.m. today. The men's and women's team Coach of the Year winners will be announced Wednesday.
 
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For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP Athletics on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.