Women's Soccer's Sierra Sonko has been awarded Sacramento State's Clutch Performance of the Year award…after appearing in just one regular season contest, the redshirt freshman goalkeeper came off the bench to save six of the 18 shootout penalty kicks she faced (over three tourney matches) to propel the Hornets to the Big Sky Conference Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth…named the Big Sky Tournament MVP…stopped two PKs to help the Hornets advance against Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals, and added two more PK saves to take down top-seed and host Montana in the semis…in the championship match, she denied Idaho's final attempt in the eighth round of penalty kicks to hand the Hornets the title.

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OTHER NOMINEES

Lou Baudouin (Women's Tennis) - The Hornets led Idaho, 3-1, in the Big Sky regular season finale before the Vandals rallied to tie the match at 3-3… Baudouin posted a 6-3 win in the opening set against Hanna Koprowska, but fell in a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (5)… Baudouin trailed in a back-and-forth third set, falling behind 6-5 before rallying to tie it and win the match in a tiebreaker,  7-6 (6)… the win clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky Tournament, which was eventually won by the Hornets.

Lucas Bost (Men's Soccer) - Entered as a second-half substitution at Portland, playing the final 45 minutes between the pipes and his team trailing, 1-0…provided the assist on Sean Battistessa's game-tying goal in the 58th minute…it was the first assist by a Hornet keeper since 2022…then, with eight minutes remaining, he denied Portland's Nick Fernandez on a penalty kick in a 1-1 match to preserve the draw…the Pilots entered the match 21-1-1 in their previous 23 at home over the last two years.

Defense (Football) - The Sacramento State defense was able to come up with a goal-line stand as time expired in regulation, and then earned a victory in double overtime over Weber State…the Hornets led by three and saw the Wildcats get a 1st-and-goal situation with just over a minute left…the unit made three stops, including a pair of TFLs to force WSU to kick a game-tying field goal…in double overtime, the defense kept the Wildcats out of the end zone, and a missed field goal gave the Hornets the win.

Irene Riva (Women's Tennis) - The sophomore rallied from down, 2-0, in the third set to win six of the next seven games against Daisy Carpenter and clinch a 4-3 win over 67th-ranked Long Beach State…it was the first win over a nationally ranked team for the Hornets since 2012…the win was also Riva's 10th straight to begin the season after missing the start of the year due to injury…opened the match with a 6-0 first-set win before falling, 6-4, in the second, and eventually claiming victory with a 6-3 win in the third.

Bridgette Smith (Volleyball) - Named the Big Sky Conference Tournament MVP after leading the Hornets to the tourney title and berth to the NCAA Tournament…in the Hornets' 3-2 win in the championship match vs. Northern Colorado, she posted a career-high 30 kills…also posted a .464 hitting percentage with four aces and 13 digs…Smith served five straight points to give the Hornets a 5-0 lead to open the fifth and final set…had three kills during the team's match-closing 7-1 run.

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AWARD TIMELINE

June 10 - Female Freshman of the Year - Madison Evers-Lyles (Softball)
June 11 - Male Freshman of the Year - Sean Battistessa (Soccer)
June 12 - Female Newcomer of the Year - Lafulafu Malepeai (Softball)
June 13 - Male Newcomer of the Year - Donovan Sessoms (Soccer)
June 14 - Female Individual Performance of the Year - Zoe Ewell (Track & Field)
June 15 - Male Individual Performance of the Year - Brandon Moreno (Track & Field)
June 16 - Clutch Performance
June 17 - Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year
June 18 - Male Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year
June 19 - Women's Academic Team of the Year
June 20 - Men's Academic Team of the Year
June 21 - SAAC Award
June 22 - Female Team Performance of the Year
June 23 - Male Team Performance of the Year
June 24 - Team of the Year
June 25 - Coach of the Year
June 26 - Female Hornet Award
June 27 - Male Hornet Award
June 28 - Female Student-Athlete of the Year
June 29 - Male Student-Athlete of the Year