Newberry College’s Elayni Stokes has been named the 2015 female winner of the South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award.

ROCK HILL – Newberry College’s Elayni Stokes has been named the 2015 female winner of the South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award, as announced by the conference office Tuesday.

Stokes is joined in this honor by Tusculum men’s tennis student-athlete Lukas Winkelmann.

The SAC Presidents Award is voted on by the league’s Faculty Athletic Representatives and to be eligible, student-athletes must exemplify excellence in athletics, academics and community service. Further, to be nominated for this prestigious award, the individual must have been honored as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year during the year in one of the league’s 18 sponsored sports.

“Elayni and Lukas are true examples of student-athletes and exceptional role models,” said South Atlantic Conference Commissioner Patrick Britz. “Their excellence in all facets of academics, athletics and community service is exemplary and both are very deserving of this prestigious award – the highest honor any student-athlete can receive in our conference. The SAC has been very fortunate to have these wonderful individuals represent the conference and their institutions the past four years.”

Stokes is a May 2015 graduate and native of Houston, Texas. She is the second Newberry student-athlete to win the Presidents Award since Newberry re-joined the SAC in 1997, following in the footsteps of basketball student-athlete Anita Bulcher, who won the award in 2010.

Stokes finished her college career with a 3.97 GPA in mathematics education and was named a Capital One/CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-America. She has been named to the Newberry College Dean’s List, South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award at every opportunity.

Stokes currently holds the Newberry record for career digs with 2,061. She set the Wolves’ single-season record with 595 digs during the 2012 campaign and bettered her mark with 606 digs during the 2013 season. She led the South Atlantic Conference with 598 digs and 5.03 this past season, while earning Newberry Invitational All-Tournament honors as she amassed 88 digs in the four-match span.

In the community, Stokes spent time at local elementary schools tutoring students in various subjects. She also volunteered with the Living Hope After-School Program in Newberry. She was a volunteer for the University Baptist Church Children’s Ministry where she assisted with supervising and teaching youth camps. Stokes tutored an 18-year old girl in English and mathematics to aid her progress toward obtaining her GED. In her hometown of Houston, Texas, Stokes served as an assistant coach at Clear Lake High School volleyball camps.

She was also very active on the Newberry campus as she served as the Vice President for the Newberry Chapter of Society of Undergraduate Mathematicians and the Secretary for the Blue Key Honor Society. Stokes was a member of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society as well as the Summerland Honors Program. She also served as a student worker for the Newberry College Department of Education.