COSTA MESA -- The 2024-25 Vanguard year came to an end at the beginning of May, and VU had plenty of success in its inaugural year playing in the NCAA Division II, the Pacific West Conference, and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.  The top placers include women's basketball finishing second and men's soccer placing fourth to lead the way in conference results during the regular season.  Those two, along with strong finishes across the board in the department, led Vanguard to a sixth-place finish in the PacWest Hogue Commissioner's Cup, beating Westmont, Jessup, and Menlo.  There were 17 PacWest All-Conference selections, 12 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic Team honorees, and plenty of individual successes throughout the season.  To celebrate the end of the campaign, the Athletic Department hosted the annual Awards Show to commemorate those victories and hand out 13 awards in a variety of categories. 
 
The night opened with women's soccer being awarded the Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) Jungkeit Family Academic Excellence Award, as the squad topped all 19 sports with the best cumulative GPA.  The first individual awards came next with the Male and Female Newcomer of the Year, with Fernando Barreto Jr. of men's wrestling winning for the men and Emma Schaaf of women's basketball winning for the women. 

Transferring in from North Dakota State, Barreto Jr. finished as an All-American in third place at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Championships at 141 pounds, and finished as a runner-up at the MPSF Tournament.  He had an overall record of 19-2 for the season and upset some ranked DII wrestlers throughout the season.  Schaaf, a freshman, started every game for VU and finished with 58 blocks, second in the league and 17th in DII.  She averaged 11.2 points per game, shot 44.5% from downtown, and averaged 8.6 rebounds per game.  She ranked 17th in the PacWest in points per game, 18th in minutes played, and fifth in rebounds per game.  Her best games were against Dominican on February 27, when she registered 23 points, including five three-point shots, and January 29 against CUI, when she secured a season-high 16 rebounds.  After the season ended, Schaaf was named an All-Conference player and the PacWest Freshman of the Year.  
   

Women's soccer players Moriah Whorton, Kaitlyn Currier, Kennedy Cypher, and Sam Pellettera accept the award from SALT leaders JJ Johnson, Halle Si'i, Tiffany Pope, & Joey Cordola (left to right)

Barreto Jr. and Schaaf flanked by Head Women's Soccer Coach Emily Reynolds (left) & Assistant Director of Housing Nicole Heuler (right)

 
A new laurel was then distributed, as four individual games were pitted against each other for the Game of the Year award. All four nominees were thrilling contests, but STUNT walked to the stage as the victors for their triple overtime victory over Jessup on April 5.  VU had lost 10 contests in a row to the Warriors, including a national championship meeting, but the Lions shocked the Warriors in San Luis Obispo in one of the biggest wins in the department all season.  VU trailed 5-3 at halftime but won the final two quarters by one point each to tie the match at 14-14.  The first two overtimes were indecisive but the Lions stole the winning point in routine six to take the game 20-19.  
 
Following that came the Male and Female Performance of the Year awards, which recognizes an individual's effort in a single game.  Adan Alvarado of men's soccer was the winner for themales for his performance at Biola on October 26, when he scored the game-winning goal and notched two assists, with one being a brilliant long ball bent right into the path of Niko Ochoa. The female winner was women's volleyball player Adeline Galvanoni, who also had her best outing against BU.  At home on October 3, she helped the Blue and Gold win 3-1 with 18 kills on 35 swings for a .486 hitting percentage, both season-highs.  With two block assists, Galvanoni led the Lions with 19 total points against the Eagles.
 
 
The Scholar Athlete of the Year awards recognize the best male and female student-athletes for their diligence in the classroom and started a train of non-athletic-based honors.  The male recipient was men's golfer and business major Rex Robinette and the female winner was track and field nursing major Brooke Dalgity.  Tiffany Pope then received the new Community Impact Award, which can go to an individual or a team for their service on and off campus.  Pope was selected for her help as a member of the Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT), community service off-campus, the two mission trips she has been on, organizing an Operation Christmas Child drive, and her servant-leader mentality on her team.  In another debut for an award, the Athletic Department asked the student-athletes to submit and vote for a professor who they felt made an impact on them and served the students the best.  After the votes were tallied, the first Faculty Member of the Year award went to the Kinesiology Department's Dr. Robert Salatto.
 

Brooke with Associate Director, Academic Strategic Initiatives  Amy Jungkeit (left) & Assistant Registrar Kelly LeGuern (right).

Pope with Kinesiology Prof. Kelly Hankes.

Dr. Salatto with baseball's Joey Cordola.

 
The Bob & Tammy Wilson Character awards were next on the docket and are handed out in honor of the longtime athletic director and his wife, with winners selected for exemplifying the core values of Vanguard Athletics.  The 2024-25 recipients were men's basketball senior Micah Swartz and women's soccer senior Bethany Urrabazo.  Immediately after that was the Walt Simon Courage Award, given in memory of a longtime friend of the basketball programs, Walt Simon.  It recognizes a student-athlete who showed the same courageous qualities that Walt possessed as he struggled with his bout with cancer that eventually took his life.  The 2024-25 honoree was women's beach volleyball senior Anne Mayfield.

 
 
Closing out the night were the Male and Female Athletes of the Year and baseball senior Fred Buckson won for the men.  Buckson ended the 2025 season as an All-Conference Third Team selection and had career season-highs in multiple offensive categories.  He hit .337 and paced the Lions in hits (58), batting average, and stolen bases (14).  With 12 doubles and eight home runs, Buckson finished the regular season inside the top 10 in the PacWest in batting average, 12th in doubles, and fifth in stolen bases.  He also assisted on 22 of Vanguard's double plays, the fourth-most turned in the league.
 
On the women's side, Sarah Matossian was announced as the winner after a season that put her in contention for PacWest Player of the Year.  She played in every game, averaged 36.5 minutes per game, and averaged just shy of a double-double with 13 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.  She tallied the most points for the Lions overall (338, a career-high in a season) and was 11th in points per game in the PacWest, third in field goal percentage (46.5%), third in rebounds per game, fourth in three-point percentage (40.2%), fifth in assists per game (2.76), and 11th in steals (1.69).  She posted 34 points against CUI, tied for the 18th-most all-time in VU history, and hauled in 21 rebounds at home against the Golden Eagles, tied for third all-time for one game.  She graduated with the 11th-most rebounds all-time at Vanguard with 618.
 
 
Congratulations again to all the 2024-25 winners!  The department hopes everyone has a great summer and is excited for more amazing results in the 2025-26 school year!