IRVING, Texas – Commissioner Mike Aresco has announced that two American Athletic Conference players of the year – Cincinnati baseball standout Griffin Merritt and UCF volleyball star McKenna Melville – have been chosen as the 2021-22 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as chosen by the conference’s faculty athletics representatives.
 
Merritt, who was chosen as The American’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Melville, The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will each receive a $4,000 postgraduate financial scholarship.
 
Merritt and Melville were chosen from a group of 23 individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year who received $2,000 postgraduate scholarships.

 
Merritt, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, becomes the fourth Cincinnati student-athlete to be named as The American’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is the third baseball player from the conference to be chosen in the last four years. Merritt was named as The American’s Player of the Year after he hit .315 with 19 home runs and 53 RBIs in 52 games. He ranked second in The American in both home runs and doubles (17) and saw 37 of his 63 hits go for extra bases.
 
Merritt, who graduated with a 3.87 grade-point average as a biological sciences major, was also chosen as a first team CoSIDA Academic All-America selection and was a finalist for Cincinnati’s Nancy Hamant Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Jean Stephens Memorial Award, which recognizes high integrity, ethical standards and commitment to the university.
 


Melville, who is from Eagan, Minnesota, is a two-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a four-time selection to the all-conference first team. She was an American Volleyball Coaches Association third-team All-America selection in 2022 and was a four-time AVCA Southeast Region selection. Melville led all Division I players with 701 points in 2022, averaging 5.61 points per set. She is the first student-athlete from UCF to be named as The American’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Melville is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection, including a first-team honoree in 2022. She holds a 4.00 grade-point average as a graduate student is UCF’s Master in Teacher Education program.
 
Selections for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are made by the faculty athletic representatives on the basis of academic credentials and athletic performance. Each conference school may nominate one student-athlete who has achieved senior academic standing as determined by the institution. A winner is chosen from each of the conference’s 22 sponsored sports in addition to at-large selections from sports not sponsored by the conference. 


Scholar-Athletes of the Year
The American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are among of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the academic year.
 
The conference has presented individual sport Scholar-Athletes of the Year in baseball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball since the 2013-14 season. The conference has presented individual awards in all other sports beginning with the 2017-18 season.
 
2022 American Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Griffin Merritt, Cincinnati (Baseball)
 
2022 American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
McKenna Melville, UCF (Volleyball)
 
2022 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Sport	Student-Athlete	School	Highlights
Baseball	Griffin Merritt	Cincinnati	American Athletic Conference Player of the Year; CoSIDA Academic All-America
Men’s Basketball	Ludgy Debaut	East Carolina	Made 18 starts and was team leader in blocks
Women’s Basketball	Elena Tsineke	South Florida	First-team all-conference and named to American All-Tournament Team in 2021-22
Men’s Cross Country	Scott Beattie	Tulsa	American Athletic Conference Runner of the Year and individual champion
Women’s Cross Country	Caroline Miller	Tulsa	Placed fourth at American Championship and 29th at NCAA Regional
Football	Desmond Ridder	Cincinnati	Two-time American Offensive Player of the Year; Eighth in Heisman Trophy voting
Men’s Golf	Luke Gifford	South Florida	Helped team advance to NCAA Championship; placed 13th in NCAA Regional
Women’s Golf	Kathryn Carson	East Carolina	Two-time selection to American All-Conference Team
Women’s Lacrosse	Kylie Nause	Cincinnati	Two-time first team all-conference; Led The American in goals per game in 2022
Women’s Rowing	Hallie Wilson	SMU	Coxswain for two American Championship-winning crews (2022 2V4, 2021 1V4)
Men’s Soccer	Maxi Galizzi	Memphis	First-team all-conference selection; ranked third in The American in goals in 2022
Women’s Soccer	Elizabeth Moberg	Memphis	Most Outstanding Defensive Player of 2021 American Championship
Softball	Gracie Morton	Memphis	Second-team all-conference; Ranked second in The American in batting in 2022
Men’s Swimming and Diving	Parker Hardigree	SMU	Four-time conference diving champion; 2022 All-America performer
Women’s Swimming and Diving	Iza Pelka	Tulane	Member of conference champion 800 freestyle relay in 2022
Men’s Tennis	Kody Pearson	Tulsa	American Athletic Conference Player of the Year; NCAA singles qualifier
Women’s Tennis	Marie Mattel	UCF	Unanimous all-conference selection; NCAA singles qualifier
Men’s Indoor Track and Field	Michael Bryan	Wichita State	American champion in wight throw and hammer throw in 2022
Women’s Indoor Track and Field	Katharine Psendorfer	Tulsa	American champion in the 3,000-meter run in 2022
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field	Henry Visser	Tulsa	American champion in the 400-meter hurdles in 2022
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field	Jane Sensibaugh	Cincinnati	American champion in the discus throw in 2022; NCAA East Preliminary qualifier
Women’s Volleyball	McKenna Melville	UCF	American Athletic Conference Player of the Year; Third-team All-America
Women’s At-Large (Bowling)	Crystal Singh	Tulane	Helped team to its first USBC postseason appearance