Berry's Collop, Shorter's Dowd earn NCAA Woman of the Year nominataions

After completing their college careers among the most accomplished female athletes at their respective schools, Marie Collop and Elizabeth Dowd are in line to receive one more honor.

The pair was recently selected as nominees for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award, with Collop chosen to represent Berry College and Dowd getting the nod for Shorter. Both are among 544 nominees, the most ever in the history of the Woman of the Year program, across all three NCAA divisions.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Student-athletes are nominated only once in their career by their school.

As one of the most decorated Berry softball players in the program’s history, Collop earned NFCA second-team All-America honors after her senior campaign for the first time in her career after being selected as the Southern Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year for her efforts in the circle.

It was her third straight All-Conference honor after posting a 15-2 record and tossing 104.2 innings for Berry. Collop also finished the year with an SAA-best 1.07 ERA, striking out 98 batters in her 19 games for Berry. She also led the SAA in RBI on the year (49) after hitting .375.

An American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region selection, Dowd closed out her career at Shorter as a three time All-Conference first team selection.

In her final season, she posted a team high in kills with 318 and moved into fourth all-time for Shorter Volleyball with 1,164 for her career. Dowd finished second on the team in digs with 405 for the season to bring her career total to 1,665, good for third all-time.

The outside hitter from Dothan, Ala. also added 49 blocks — 11 solo and 38 assisted — and tallied 28 service aces to bring her career totals to 150 and 117, respectively.

The top 30 finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year award will be announced in early September with the final announcement taking place Oct. 22.