Zaccaro Named Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete Of The Year

SAN FRANCISCO – Nikki Zaccaro has been selected as the 2022 Pac-12 Lacrosse Student-Athlete of the Year the conference announced Wednesday. Zaccaro is Cal's first winner and the fourth overall of the award that began in 2018 and skipped one season in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented in each of the 24 sports the conference sponsors and was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

"It's a big honor," Zaccaro said. "I've always really cared about performing on and off the field. One never took precedence over the other, so I'm proud that it can now be recognized."  

Below are notes on Zaccaro.
 
Nikki Zaccaro, A, 5-2, 5th, 5th Season At Cal, Newtown, CT (Lauralton Hall HS)
— A double major (political science, film and media studies) who finished her undergraduate work at Cal in May of 2021 with Distinction in General Scholarship (equivalent to cum laude) and a 3.86 grade point average
— Currently enrolled in the Berkeley Haas Global Access Program and has a 3.58 GPA in post-graduate work
— Had also been Cal's nominee for the Pac-12 Lacrosse Student-Athlete of the Year award as a 2021 senior and received another opportunity to win the honor when she came back as a fifth-year senior in 2022 and used an extra season of eligibility granted due to COVID-19
— Honored academically by the Pac-12 each season from 2019-21 with spots on the conference's Spring Academic Honor in 2020 and 2021 after it replaced the league's All-Academic squads which she was a first-team member of in 2019 (2022 Spring Academic Honor Roll has yet to be announced)
— Also selected to Cal's Deans List in the spring of 2019
— Picked up CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Women's At-Large honors as a 2020 junior and is a nominee again in 2022
— Co-founder of the Go Bears Go Vote initiative, which was founded to encourage voter registration and educate people about voting, with the majority of her work done during the 2020 fall semester prior to the November election that year
— Cal's all-time career leader in games played (77) and assists (89) after breaking both marks in April of 2022
— Cal's active career leader in starts (67), goals (70), points (161), shots (208) and shots on goal (136)
— Leads the 2022 team and ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with 18 assists
— Had a career-high-tying three goals including the game-tying tally with 3:11 to go in a 16-15 comeback win at UC Davis in 2022
— Has five multiple-assist games in 2022 including a career-high five against Liberty
— Put up at least one point in each of her final 13 regular-season contests in 2022