INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The post-career recognition for recent Otterbein University graduate Bella Shivley rolled on Tuesday, as the star women's soccer player advanced in the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year process.

Rooted in Title IX and directed by the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, the NCAA Woman of the Year program celebrates the accomplishments of female college athletes across all three divisions.

NCAA member schools officially nominated 535 women this time around from a crop of roughly 200,000 eligible student-athletes. League offices reviewed their nominees and, now, 152 conference-level honorees are moving on for NCAA Woman of the Year national consideration.

Shivley, a 2x All-American both on the field and in the classroom, will represent the Ohio Athletic Conference after a remarkable career. A nursing major, the 3x OAC Midfielder of the Year graduated with a 3.92 GPA and was recently voted the prestigious CoSIDA Academic All-America Player of the Year… for all of NCAA Division III women's soccer.

On the pitch, she compiled the most career points (142) of any OAC player since the turn of the century. She is Otterbein's all-time leader in points, goals, assists and game-winners despite just playing three full seasons of sample size. Her senior class finished with a combined 56-11-5 overall record and won multiple championships.

Next, the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee will choose the Top 10 honorees in each of the three divisions. Those 30 "semifinalists" will be announced in September. From those 30 candidates, the selection committee then determines the top-three finalists in each division before choosing one of the nine as the crowning 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year later this fall.

The well-rounded Shivley also served as President/Marketing Chair of Otterbein Special Olympics and also had volunteer experience with Ronald McDonald House, American Heart Association, Kick Cancer, Westerville Area Resource Ministry (W.A.R.M) and Otterbein Promise House...

She landed on Homecoming Court, served as a Fundraising Chair through her sorority, coached a local U-11 travel team, worked during the pandemic as a Patient Care Associate at Ohio State Brain and Spine Hospital, and will soon begin a full-time job within OhioHealth as a registered nurse.

You can learn more about this award, selection process and previous winners at ncaa.org/woty.