INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Carson-Newman volleyball alumnae Rachel Harper (Chattanooga, Tenn.) has received a nomination for the NCAA's Woman of the Year.

Harper is the only volleyball player from the South Atlantic Conference and just one of two from the Southeast Region, to receive a nomination. 

Harper led the conference with 4.5 points per set, a number that ranked 24th nationally, and 3.62 kills per set led the league this year while her 51 service aces rank fourth and are the 37th-best tally nationally.

Her 3.66 kills per set is the fifth-highest total for a single season in program history. The outside hitter has crossed the 1,000 kills and 1,000 dig plateaus this season while she has brought her career service ace total to 136, fourth-most in program history.

Harper racked up 14 double-doubles this season including 18 kills and a career-high 29 digs in a match against Anderson (S.C.) in the SAC semifinals. The outside hitter was a first team All-SAC selection, a member of the All-Southeast Region Tournament team, a three-time SAC Player of the Week honoree and Women Play Ball Division II Athlete of the Week on September 9.

NCAA member colleges and universities have nominated 480 female student-athletes – the most ever in the history of the program – for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Now in its 25th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

Of the nominees, 207 competed in Division I, 93 competed in Division II and 180 competed in Division III athletics.

The NCAA encourages member schools to honor its top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.

Then, conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which chooses the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.

From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2015NCAA Woman of the Year.

The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the Top 30 honorees celebrated, at the annual award ceremony Oct. 18 in Indianapolis.