Two Westmont student athletes and women’s basketball coach Kirsten Moore received prestigious awards from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Volleyball players Libby Dahlberg and Cassidy Rea were the student athletes honored.
Dahlberg, a senior middle blocker, was named the recipient of the Leroy Walker Champions of Character Award.
Rea, a junior outside hitter, was named the female recipient of the A. O. Duer Scholarship Award.
Both Dahlberg and Rea are the first Westmont student-athlete to receive the awards.
“The conference could not think of a more deserving student-athlete than Libby Dahlberg for the Dr. Leroy Walker Champions of Character Award,” said GSAC commissioner Mike Daniels. “Libby is an embodiment of the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program. It is very satisfying to have numerous student-athletes around our conference like Libby that achieve great success on and off the court but do it with high character.”
The award was created to honor Dr. Leroy Walker, a former president of the NAIA and President emeritus of the United States Olympic Committee. It recognizes a current student-athlete with at least a junior academic status who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, campus and community leadership embracing the five core character values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative, athletic achievement and future ambition.
“Libby has been the most dominant player to come through our volleyball program,” said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. “In her three years on the team, she has garnered a large number of awards including Conference Freshman of the Year, Conference Player of the Year, NAIA National Tournament team and All-American. She has led the team and the conference in hitting percentage and blocks and has led the nation in hitting percentage. Libby was a key factor during the past two seasons in which her team was undefeated in conference play.”
Academically, Dalhlberg has excelled as a chemistry major and aspires to work in a lab, either in forensics or applied research. She also wants to continue playing volleyball abroad after graduation.
Rea’s award is named in honor of the NAIA’s former executive secretary who served the association for 26 years. The A. O. Duer Scholarship Award, presented by Daktronics, has been annually given since 1967 to a male and female junior student-athlete in any sport who has excelled in scholarship, character, and citizenship.
Rea, a double-major in history and political science with a GPA of 3.94, has earned the respect of her professors as a thoughtful scholar.
Moore was named the 2019 NAIA Coach of Character. She will be honored at the NAIA National Convention to be held in West Palm Beach, Florida, next April.
Moore joins 14 previous recipients of the NAIA Coach of Character Award, including Westmont’s Russell Smelley, the 2015 honoree. The annual award is given to a head coach of an NAIA institution who has been outstanding in embracing the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative, using methods of teaching character through sport, and in community leadership through volunteering or service.
“Kirsten could be nominated for this award on an annual basis,” said Westmont athletic director Dave Odell, “this particular year seems even more exceptional. The national title her team accomplished in 2013 may actually be second to this year’s national championship runner-up trophy, given the adversity her team faced throughout the year. Despite the challenges, Kirsten did not allow circumstances to stand in the way of opportunities to mentor and lead.
“Kirsten led her team through a series of evacuations in the 2017-2018 season as a result of fires and mudslides around our campus. Over the course of six weeks, her players were only able to spend four days in their dorms. Kirsten and her daughter were with the team as they stayed in hotels, dorms at The Masters University and found hosts to feed the team and assist in getting them through a very trying time for our community. Her ability to lead her team through fires, mudslides, evacuations, and lost class time were exemplary. To accomplish a national runner-up after so many trials was a testament to her grit and care for her program.”
Odell added: “Given Kirsten’s own experience of deep loss with her husband Alex’s passing six years ago, she brought a unique level of empathy to lead the support of a family and neighboring elementary school through the devastating loss of a daughter and classmate who was one of the many casualties from the mudslides we experienced. She and her team were there for the family of the girl and helped host her memorial. Their connection to the local community and ability to give back in a difficult time was noteworthy.”