Radford University softball’s Sydney Fisher has been voted the 2020-21 Big South Co-Woman of the Year sponsored by Musco Lighting, the conference office announced recently. She becomes the third Highlander in history to garner the award, joining Hope Creasy (softball, 2009-10) and Jessica Wollmann (women’s soccer, 2018-19).
The Big South’s Woman of the Year Selection Committee voted Fisher and High Point volleyball’s Abby Bottomley the co-honorees among the 10 candidates nominated for the award. The committee determined the winners using the criteria of service and leadership (including community services, campus activities, and leadership positions), academic achievement, athletics excellence, and a personal statement from each candidate.
As the Big South’s Woman of the Year, Fisher and Bottomley will be automatically nominated as the conference’s candidates for the national NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Fisher was a three-year starter for the Highlanders (2019-21), and a two-time First-Team All-Conference honoree. This past season, she finished as the Big South’s leading hitter with a .392 average to go with 73 hits, 14 doubles, and 105 total bases in 54 games played. She recorded hits in all but 12 games and had 17 multi-hit games as one of the conference’s most consistent sluggers.
The Appling, Ga., native earned Third-Team Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Fisher was also a Top 10 Finalist for the national Senior CLASS Award in 2021 and earned Second-Team All-America honors from the organization. She graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA as a double major in biology and chemistry, was voted the 2021 Big South Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and also earned the Big South’s prestigious Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence this past spring, the highest academic honor a Big South student-athlete can achieve.
In the classroom, Fisher’s emphasis was in biochemistry and animal studies and as part of her program she conducted research in soil sample analysis and aquatic insect identification. Fisher presented some of her research at Radford University’s Winter Creative Activities and Research Days (CARD), and will be presenting her new research later in the year.
A VaSID Academic All-State honoree, Fisher was a two-time presenter at the Radford Creative Activities and Research Day and was a member of the Dean’s List each year of college.
Outside of playing softball and pursuing her academic interests across two fields of science, Fisher became involved in the non-profit organization Vets of All Color which supports and encourages minorities in the veterinary field and has become a sitting board member and speaker for the organization. Other community service involvement included the Martin Luther King Day of Service in the Radford area, starting the first chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for Radford softball, and campaigning the campus for outreach.
Fisher also worked various softball camps and volunteered as a Special Education PE assistant at local schools.
Fisher was also a guest on the Big South’s “Cultural Conversations” video podcast series as part of the Conference’s anti-racism initiatives. She is among 535 overall nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year, which is now in its 31st year.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose 10 women from each division to make up the Top 30.
The committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced this fall. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will choose the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year.
