AMHERST, N.Y. --
Kitsa Scime (Williamsville, N.Y.) has been named the recipient of the Daemen University C.L.A.W. Award for the 2024-25 academic year. This prestigious award is given annually to the graduating student-athlete who best exemplifies the traits of character, leadership, academic achievement and work ethic. The announcement of this year's recipient was made at the
2025 Wildcat Night of Honors on Sunday, an annual event held on campus to recognize the achievements of the university's intercollegiate teams and student-athletes.
We will be featuring each of the major award winners throughout this week on www.daemenwildcats.com.
Scime is a four-year member of the Daemen women's tennis team. She finished her Daemen career 48 career singles victories, which placed her second all-time in program history. 48 singles victories is one win off the current Daemen record (49), held by Christina Stasiuk (2017-22). Scime retires with the program's record for career singles win percentage of 63.1%. She ends her career ranked fourth all-time in combined singles and doubles victories with 82. Her 34 career doubles victories ranks tied for fifth all-time in the Daemen record books. Finishing the 2024-25 season with a 10-6 record in singles play and a 7-7 record in doubles matches, Scime posted a 62.5% win percentage in her senior campaign which ranks fifth all-time in the Daemen single-season record books. The first player in Daemen history to earn First Team All-East Coast Conference honors in 2023, Scime also became the first two-time all-conference selection in program history after earning Second Team All-ECC recognition in her sophomore season (2022). Serving on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) E-board for her senior year in 2024-25, Scime is set to earn her bachelor of science degree in business administration with a specialization in human resource management.
Scime was nominated for the award by assistant athletic director for compliance and student success Suzie Yormick-DeNillo. Highlights of her nominations include:
- Demonstration of good character: Kitsa demonstrates good character by how she shows compassion for others, respect for others and responsibility in what she does. She constantly shows kindness to other student-athletes and is always willing to help. Kitsa is someone who is always on time and accomplishes tasks at hand. When we ask things of her in SAAC, I confidently trust that it will get done.
- Leadership roles: Kitsa is a SAAC E-Board member, member of the ITA Student-Athlete Council, Daemen Business Club member, and women's tennis team captain. She was selected to attend the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Conference in 2024. She was also a member of the ITA's Rising Coaches Program. Kitsa was a peer mentor and part of Wildcats Will Lead.
- Academic achievement: Kitsa has a 3.88 overall GPA. During her time at Daemen, she never had lower than a 3.7 GPA and has been on Deans List every semester. She had four semesters in which she earned a 4.0 GPA and has carried 15 or more credits each semester.
- Championship mindset and work ethic: Kitsa is someone who sets goals and works hard to achieve them. She has proven to have a good work ethic within SAAC and the classroom. She completes all tasks and is always willing to help/volunteer for whatever is needed. Kitsa holds herself to a high standard and will put in the work when needed.
Scime is the first women's tennis student-athlete to receive the C.L.A.W. Award. Past recipients are listed:
2013 - Joanna Fretthold, women's volleyball
2014 - Mark Coppola, men's basketball
2015 - Sam Rugg, men's soccer/track and field
2016 - Gregory Lowe, men's tennis
2017 - Rachel Pawlak, women's basketball
2018 - Giambattista Davis, men's basketball & Katie McKrell, women's volleyball
2019 - Erin Egan, women's basketball
2020 - Courtney Bernard, women's volleyball
2021 - Maddie Flores, women's soccer & Ziv Basden, men's basketball
2022 - Alex Hasiotis, women's bowling
2023 - Marina Maerkl, women's basketball
2024 - Maggie Burns, women's volleyball
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
