INDIANAPOLIS – Loyola University Maryland graduate
Ann Ernst '20 was named the school's nominee for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award, an honor that recognizes student-athletes for their co-curricular excellence encompassing all aspects of sports and student life.
Ernst, the 2020 recipient of Loyola's Ernest Lagna Award as the school's top female senior student-athlete, graduated Summa Cum Laude in May with a degree in mechanical and materials engineering, and she is set to begin a job soon locally in the aerospace engineering field.
The Chicago native is eligible to be the Patriot League nominee for the award, a recipient that will be announced in August.
On the court, Ernst was as much of a standout as she helped lead Loyola to its first two Patriot League Championships bids in 2018 and 2019. She finished her career third in school history in kills (1,597) and seventh in digs (1,173); her kills total ranks fifth in Patriot League history.
She was a two-time All-Patriot League honoree, garnering first-team recognition in 2018 and second-team the following year.
Ernst was also honored for her academic achievements by the conference, drawing a spot on the seven-player Academic All-Patriot League Team in both 2018 and 2019.
During her senior season, she was named one of 10 finalists in NCAA Division I volleyball for the Senior CLASS Award.
As an undergraduate research assistant, she studied how well, and through what techniques, physics students learn in early classes and the correlation to the number of students who remain in the STEM departments at the university.
Ernst then assisted in redesigning the Physics I and II courses in order to increase the number of students that choose to major in STEM at Loyola, and she co-authored Introducing Physics Innovation and Entrepreneurship (PIE) into the first-year physics course for 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
She was a peer tutor for physics, calculus and several engineering courses. She also was chosen to be a part of Loyola's Green & Grey Society, a group of 14 seniors who serve as liaisons to the university president and the student body. The students are chosen for demonstrating excellence in academic, personal and spiritual integration and a commitment to leadership and service to Loyola.
Ernst finished her 2019 season with a league-leading 493 kills, good for 4.07 per set. Her 2019 total was a career-high and ranks third in school single-season history. She was 26
th in Division I in total kills, 41
st in kills per set, as a senior.
In her 117 career matches, she recorded 10 or more kills 88 times (75.2 percent of the time), 15 or more kills 50 times (42.7) and 20 or more 16 times (13.7).
