Senior midfielder Sam Mewis of UCLA has received the Honda Sports Award for Soccer announced today by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).

The Honda Sports Award is presented annually by the CWSA to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. With this honor, Mewis becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup. Mewis was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included Morgan Brian (Virginia), Dagny Brynjarsdottir (Florida State) and Shea Groom (Texas A&M).

Mewis is the second-straight student-athlete from UCLA to win the Honda award for soccer, following Abby Dahlkemper, who was the recipient for the class of 2014.

"I am so honored to be receiving such a prestigious award," said Mewis. “I would like to thank my teammates at UCLA for making this possible, as well as the coaching staff for all that they have done for me. I would also like to thank the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards and Honda for creating such a great award and giving recognition to women's college athletics. It is amazing for me to be a part of this, and I congratulate the other winners!”

"Sam winning the Honda Award is such a huge honor,” stated UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. “Having two recipients in two years says so much about these special women in our soccer program. Sam had a tremendous season for UCLA Soccer, and she also found time to succeed academically, graduate early and give back to the community. We are very proud of her achievements, as she has earned every one of them.”

Mewis is a 2014 NSCAA first-team All-American and was named the espnW National Player of the Year. The senior midfielder is also a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist and served as team captain for two years, leading her team to consecutive Pac-12 titles and the 2013 NCAA title. She was selected the 2014 Pac-12 Player of the Year and received first-team All Pac-12 honors.

A native of Hanson, Mass., Mewis finished the season with Pac-12 leading totals of 16 goals and 13 assists for 45 points and also added seven game-winning goals. She ended her career ranked in the Top 10 all-time at UCLA in goals (31, ninth), assists (32, second) and points (94, sixth).  Mewis was recently honored as a first-team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American and a first-team NSCAA Scholar All-American.

Off the field, she has been an outstanding ambassador for the program within the community. In October, she organized a youth clinic and fundraiser to help nearly $3000 for Soccer Without Borders, a non-profit organization that uses soccer as a vehicle for positive change to youth in underdeveloped areas. She has also volunteered her time with The Young and Brave Foundation to help children with cancer, served holiday dinners at the UCLA Medical Center, and spoken with elementary and middle school students about the importance of staying in school.

The CWSA presents the Honda Sports Award annually to top women student-athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.  The 2015 awards season opened this fall with winners being selected from the sports of cross country, field hockey, soccer and volleyball.  Honda Sports award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sports award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup award presented in June.

Three Honda Sports Awards winners for soccer have gone on to win the prestigious Honda Cup, Christine Sinclair (2006), Cindy Daws (1997) and Mia Hamm (1994).

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 38 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.8 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.