Four Individuals, One Team Nominated for Seattle Sports Commission Annual Accolades
December 16, 2019 | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer, Softball, Women's Rowing, Volleyball
SEATTLE - Four student-athletes and one team have been nominated by the Seattle Sports Commission in the 85th Annual rendition of their awards.. Kara Bajema of volleyball and Sis Bates of softball both were nominated for the Female Sports Star of the Year award, while Matisse Thybulle of men's basketball and Blake Bodily of men's soccer were both nominated for the Male Sports Star of the Year Award. The women's rowing team received the fifth nomination for the Huskies in the category of Sports Story of the Year.
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Bajema has been dominant during her tenure in the purple and gold, particularly in 2018 and 2019. Last year, the Lynden, Wash., product received numerous accolades including being named Third Team 2018 AVCA All-America, 2018 All-Pac-12 Team, and 2018 AVCA All-Region Team. BajemaΒ helped lead the Dawgs to consecutive wins in the first and second rounds of theΒ NCAA tournament over Winthrop and South Carolina. She followed that up with impressive performances this past weekend against Kentucky and Baylor en route to being named to the Waco All-Region Team. She averaged 6.15 kills per set on a .426 attack percentage in the two matches.Β
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After being nominated for the same award last year, Bates has continued to impress earning her second-straight Female Sports Star of the Year nomination. During the 2019 season, Bates collected a laundry list of awards and mentions, including NFCA All-American First Team, Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, All-Pac-12 First Team, Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist. Bates found success in the classroom as well, earning recognition as a Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention. The Senior is only the third two-time All-American First Team selection in UW history and the third Pac-12 player to win Defensive Player of the Year multiple times. She ranks fourth in UW history in triples and has the second-highest fielding percentage by any middle infielder in UW history.
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Thybulle was a force on both ends of the court for the Huskies and helped lead the team to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. The Issaquah native owns the UW career and single season steals records and was named both the 2018 and 2019Β Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being honored as the 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.Β He started every game since he arrived on campus with his streak at 135 career games. The 2019 graduate received All-Pac-12 First Team honors,Β Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors, and set the Pac-12 single-season steals record with 126 on the year.
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Bodily has been an offensive power for the Huskies since he stepped on the pitch in 2017, earning plenty of awards along the way. This year, he was named as a Herman Trophy Semifinalist, an award for the nation's top player. The junior forward also earned the 2019 Pac-12 Player of the Year Award, while being named to the All Pac-12 first team for the third season in a row. In 16 starts this season, Bodily notched a staggering 12 goals and six assists while leading the Huskies to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
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The UW women's rowing team completed a sweep of the NCAA regatta including a dramatic finish in the varsity eight, coming all the way back from sixth place to win the championship. At 1,000 meters, it was still Michigan in front of a tightly packed field, with Washington trailing in sixth place. At 1,500, Texas took the lead from the Wolverines, while the Huskies had caught Cal for fifth and had their sights set on moving up even more in the final standings. As the other crews started to fade, the Huskies rallied and moved into second position with a couple hundred meters to go. As they headed down the stretch, it was anyone's race to win, but Washington maintained their sprint and crossed the finish line just seven-tenths of a second in front of the Longhorns. The finish was nearly unprecedented as the six crews were separated by less than four seconds from first through sixth. Washington's time of 6:07.284 beat Texas' 6:07.971. Michigan was less than a second back in third at 6:08.659. The Huskies' time broke the old NCAA Regatta record (6:11.95; Stanford, 2009) by more than four seconds.
Voting on the awards will be open to the public Jan. 13.
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Bajema has been dominant during her tenure in the purple and gold, particularly in 2018 and 2019. Last year, the Lynden, Wash., product received numerous accolades including being named Third Team 2018 AVCA All-America, 2018 All-Pac-12 Team, and 2018 AVCA All-Region Team. BajemaΒ helped lead the Dawgs to consecutive wins in the first and second rounds of theΒ NCAA tournament over Winthrop and South Carolina. She followed that up with impressive performances this past weekend against Kentucky and Baylor en route to being named to the Waco All-Region Team. She averaged 6.15 kills per set on a .426 attack percentage in the two matches.Β
Β
After being nominated for the same award last year, Bates has continued to impress earning her second-straight Female Sports Star of the Year nomination. During the 2019 season, Bates collected a laundry list of awards and mentions, including NFCA All-American First Team, Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, All-Pac-12 First Team, Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist. Bates found success in the classroom as well, earning recognition as a Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention. The Senior is only the third two-time All-American First Team selection in UW history and the third Pac-12 player to win Defensive Player of the Year multiple times. She ranks fourth in UW history in triples and has the second-highest fielding percentage by any middle infielder in UW history.
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Thybulle was a force on both ends of the court for the Huskies and helped lead the team to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. The Issaquah native owns the UW career and single season steals records and was named both the 2018 and 2019Β Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being honored as the 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.Β He started every game since he arrived on campus with his streak at 135 career games. The 2019 graduate received All-Pac-12 First Team honors,Β Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors, and set the Pac-12 single-season steals record with 126 on the year.
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Bodily has been an offensive power for the Huskies since he stepped on the pitch in 2017, earning plenty of awards along the way. This year, he was named as a Herman Trophy Semifinalist, an award for the nation's top player. The junior forward also earned the 2019 Pac-12 Player of the Year Award, while being named to the All Pac-12 first team for the third season in a row. In 16 starts this season, Bodily notched a staggering 12 goals and six assists while leading the Huskies to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
Β
The UW women's rowing team completed a sweep of the NCAA regatta including a dramatic finish in the varsity eight, coming all the way back from sixth place to win the championship. At 1,000 meters, it was still Michigan in front of a tightly packed field, with Washington trailing in sixth place. At 1,500, Texas took the lead from the Wolverines, while the Huskies had caught Cal for fifth and had their sights set on moving up even more in the final standings. As the other crews started to fade, the Huskies rallied and moved into second position with a couple hundred meters to go. As they headed down the stretch, it was anyone's race to win, but Washington maintained their sprint and crossed the finish line just seven-tenths of a second in front of the Longhorns. The finish was nearly unprecedented as the six crews were separated by less than four seconds from first through sixth. Washington's time of 6:07.284 beat Texas' 6:07.971. Michigan was less than a second back in third at 6:08.659. The Huskies' time broke the old NCAA Regatta record (6:11.95; Stanford, 2009) by more than four seconds.
Voting on the awards will be open to the public Jan. 13.
Players Mentioned
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