Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
HILBERT, Wisconsin – The Midwest Conference announced Lake Forest College men’s tennis player
George Ciuca and Cornell College women’s volleyball athlete
Ella Becker as the 2026 Athletes of the Year on Friday (August 14).
The MWC Athletes of the Year Awards are presented annually, recognizing one graduating student-athlete representing women’s sports and one graduating student-athlete representing men’s and mixed sports for their exceptional athletics, academics, leadership, and community service achievements.
Ciuca was a Second Team All-MWC honoree at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles as a freshman before earning All-MWC accolades in singles each of the next three years and in doubles as a junior. He was voted the Foresters' Most Improved Player as a sophomore and junior and served as a team captain each of the last two seasons. Ciuca finished his career ranked second in program history with 135 overall victories, third with 70 singles wins, and fourth with 65 triumphs in doubles. In conference matches he was 39-7 in singles and doubles combined.
Successful in the classroom as well, Ciuca was an Academic All-District® selection by College Sports Communicators each of the last three seasons and is a four-time Academic All-MWC honoree and Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar Athlete. The double-major in Economics (finance concentration) and Data Science (computer science concentration) was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, earned the John H. and Margaret Veeck Krehbiel Leadership Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude with a 3.90 cumulative grade point average.
Ciuca has also been involved in numerous activities on campus and in the community. Among them are volunteering at Feed My Starving Children and serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and as a tutor in the College's Quantitative Research Center.
"George has been an outstanding representative of Lake Forest College throughout his career," noted Forester Head Men's Tennis Coach Scot Reinhart. "His commitment to excellence on the court, in the classroom, and within the campus community has set a tremendous example for his teammates. George's work ethic, leadership as team captain, and competitive spirit have been instrumental to our program's success, and he is exceptionally deserving of this recognition."
Ciuca is the third Forester to be named MWC Athlete of the Year Representing Men's and Mixed Sports, joining soccer player Joao Godoy (2021) and men’s tennis athlete Daniel Tulchinskiy (2025).
Becker graduated with a double major in psychological sciences and kinesiology, carrying a 4.0 cumulative grade point average. In March, she became Cornell’s first-ever female student-athlete to receive the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. The Ankeny, Iowa native was presented with Cornell’s prestigious Russell W. Landis Award in May. She’s a two-time recipient of the MWC Elite 20 Award for volleyball and was named Cornell’s 2025 Paul Maaske Scholar-Athlete. Becker has been inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa and Chi Alpha Sigma honor societies.
Becker is a four-time academic all-MWC performer and three-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® selection.
She also displayed excellence on the volleyball court as a four-year starting libero for coach Jeff Meeker’s Rams, who won four consecutive MWC regular season and tournament titles while appearing in the NCAA Tournament all four years during her time on the Hilltop. Becker guided Cornell to 83 career match wins and a perfect 40-0 mark against MWC competition. As a senior, Becker was tabbed 2025 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, First Team All-Region IX and First Team All-MWC. She also earned first team all-MWC honors in 2024 and was a second team pick in 2023.
Becker stands No. 3 on Cornell’s career list with 2,026 digs, the 15th-highest total in MWC history. Her 96.6 serving percentage ranks No. 2 all-time at Cornell.
Becker is Cornell’s fifth female recipient of the award at the conference level, joining Allison Eikenberry (volleyball, 2020-21), Carley Robison (softball, 2019-20), Jillian Schulte (volleyball, 2018-19) and Libby Schnoor (track & field, 2017-18).
Ciuca and Becker will be the league’s nominees for the Division III Commissioners Association (DIIICA) Student Athletes of the Year Program. The DIIICA will announce its regional selections on Friday, August 21 via press release with national winners following on Wednesday, September 2.