BEVERLY, Mass. - Curry College Women’s Hockey Goaltender Soleil Archambeault and Wentworth Women’s Volleyball standout Riley Waggoner were named as the conference’s nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year ballot. In addition, Archambeault has been named the DIIICA Female Athlete of the Year nominee for the Conference of New England, as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon.
A Business Management major, Archambeault was named the Conference’s Goaltender of the Year and First Team All-Conference selection in 2023-24. With those accomplishments on the ice, Archambeault was strong off the ice in earning her third AHCA All-American Scholar honor. The London, Ontario native ended her career at Curry this past season, putting up a career year where she ranked first in saves per game (31.27), third in save percentage (94.7) and fourth in goals against average (1.73) against other conference goaltenders. Additionally, she saved 20 of 21 shootout attempts.
Additionally, Archambeault completed her undergraduate work with a 4.0 GPA, and was inducted into Curry’s Sigma Beta Delta chapter.
Waggoner, a three-time All-Conference selection and the 2023 CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was also a member of the Academic All-District Team the last two seasons. Her athletic and academic success also earned her selection as a CSC Academic All-America finalist this past season. She compiled 118 kills at a .250 rate this season to go along with 45 total blocks. Waggoner's selection to the All-Conference third team in 2023-24 marks the third consecutive season she had been recognized by the league, having earned a spot on the second team in 2021 and 2022.
She completed her career at Wentworth with 602 kills, a .298 hitting percentage, 135 digs, 30 service aces, and 179 total blocks.
Eligible female student-athletes are nominated by their member school. Each conference office then reviews the nominations from its core member schools (and sponsored sports) and submits its conference nominee(s) to the NCAA. Then, in October, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 – 10 from each division – and from there selects three finalists from each division. The Committee on Women's Athletics then selects the winner from the nine finalists.
The 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the NCAA 2025 Convention in January.
NCAA Woman of the Year Nominee Finalists - Conference of New England)
Soleil Archambeault, Curry (Women’s Hockey)
Hannah Risko, Endicott (Women’s Outdoor Track)
Rachel Brennan, Gordon (Women’s Cross Country/Track)
Tiana Fox, Gordon (Women’s Outdoor Track)
Katherine Galligan, Roger Williams (Women’s Basketball)
Kelsee Gladu, University of New England (Women’s Cross Country)
Riley Waggoner, Wentworth (Women’s Volleyball)
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE OF NEW ENGLAND
Originally founded in 1984 as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), and reconstituted as the Conference of New England (CNE) in 2024, the CNE is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of 10 full member and five associate member institutions throughout the New England region. Its membership aims to provide student-athletes with a positive experience in their pursuit of excellence through high
academic standards, quality competition and a meaningful student life. The Conference administers championships in 20 intercollegiate sports.