INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – On Wednesday night at the NCAA Convention, Concordia-St. Paul volleyball grad Riley Hanson was recognized as a 2018 Today's Top 10 Award winner along with nine other distinguished recipients.
 
The award recognizes former student-athletes for their successes on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Recipients completed their athletics eligibility during the 2016-17 academic year and were recognized at the 2018 Convention in Indianapolis.
 
The NCAA Honors Committee, which selects the honorees, is composed of representatives from member schools and conferences, as well as nationally distinguished former college athletes.
 
Before 2013, the award recognized eight student-athletes and was known as Today's Top VIII. The NCAA Honors Committee expanded the award to include 10 honorees to recognize the growing number of college athletes, sports and championship opportunities.
 
The distinguished list of student-athletes includes competitors in eight different sports with all three NCAA divisions recognized among the 10.
 
Riley Hanson helped lead Concordia-St. Paul to Division II national championships in volleyball in 2013 and 2016. She was a two-time Female Athlete of the Year at the school, and she earned three American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America honors, in addition to four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Conference accolades. Hanson also is a two-time recipient of College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America honors, being named 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. In 2017, she was named her school's Scholar Student-Athlete of the Year, and she received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
 
On the court, Hanson was the program's all-time leader in hitting percentage at .402 while she ranks sixth in program history with 1,500 career kills and third with 444 career blocks. She capped off her senior season as the national leader in hitting percentage at .433 while helping her team to the title. Overall in her career, the Nevis native helped the team to an incredible 126-16 record.
 
Off the court, Hanson was a three-year member of the Concordia-St. Paul Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, including serving as vice president during her senior year. She volunteered with the Tetra Delta Science Club, which organized educational seminars to prepare students for graduate school and promote social networking through extracurriculars. She also coached youth volleyball all four years. Hanson now is studying to become a dentist at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
 
Hanson is the second Golden Bear to receive the award, with fellow volleyball alum Ellie Duffy received the honor back in 2013.