ST. LOUIS — Former UNI volleyball student-athlete Kira Fallert has been named the female recipient of the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award, as announced by MVC commissioner Jeff Jackson and the league office on Tuesday.

Established in 2000, the award is among the most prestigious honors in the MVC with each league institution nominating one male and one female student-athlete. These nominees are extraordinary student-athletes excelling academically and athletically and are leaders on campus and within their communities. 

By virtue of receiving this honor, Fallert will also serve as the conference’s nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, which will be announced at the upcoming NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. in January 2026.

A Maplewood, Minnesota native, Fallert becomes the eighth Panther student-athlete to receive the honor and fifth woman to do so. Previous winners from UNI include Matt Cobb (2000, baseball), Jill Arganbright (2004, volleyball), Jacqui Kalin (2011, women’s basketball), Adam McDonnell (2014, men’s track and field), Angie Davison (2017, women’s basketball), CJ May (2020, men’s track and field) and Samantha Heyer (2024, softball).

This year’s male recipient of the award is Valparaiso men’s golfer Anthony Delsanti.

During her senior season with the Panther volleyball team, Fallert led the Panther offense and ranked fourth in the MVC with 3.69 kills per set, along with 34 service aces, 2.3 digs per set and 51 total blocks, helping Northern Iowa capture its third straight conference regular season and tournament champion, as well as a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. She notched eight double-double performances this year, surpassing 1,000 career digs to join UNI’s elite Double Grand Club and recorded ten or more kills in 26 matches, including 18 of her last 22 outings. 

For her stellar senior campaign, Fallert was named the MVC’s Co-Player of the Year, as well as a First Team All-MVC honoree, and an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region and All-American selection.

Fallert, who finished her career seventh all-time with 1,446 kills in school history, was also named to this year’s MVC All-Tournament Team and became the first player in MVC history to win the league’s Elite 18 Award three consecutive years for posting the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA) in the MVC Tournament’s championship match. Graduating this spring with a degree in biology with a 4.00 GPA, earning College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District and Second Team All-American recognition.

In addition to her academic and athletic success, Fallert has been a prominent member of her community, volunteering at her hometown church, helping at camps for children with communication disorders, coaching youth volleyball, packing meals for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and building homes for Habitat For Humanity Women’s Build.

ABOUT DR. CHARLOTTE WEST

The first-ever recipient of the Honda Award of Merit in 1996 for outstanding achievement in women’s collegiate athletics, Dr. Charlotte West was a driving force for more than 40 years in the area of advancement of women’s sports.

On June 30, 1998, she retired from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, after serving in the capacities of head coach, associate athletics director, interim athletics director and senior woman administrator during her 41 years with the MVC-member institution. West coached five women’s sports from 1957-75 and, in 1982, was among the first group of women inducted into the SIUC Athletics Hall of Fame.

During her tenure at SIUC, she became the first female member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and later served on the organization’s board of directors. West was also a president of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). In 1991, she was presented with the Administrator of the Year Award by the National Association of Collegiate Women Administrators. West also received the Administrator of the Year Award, given by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

UNI volleyball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Volleyball), X (@UNIVolleyball) and on Instagram (@univolleyball). The full 2024 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.