Sierra Lee (‘25) named CCS Offensive Player of the Year for second time in career
Maryville College women’s soccer forward Sierra Lee (‘25) has been named the CCS Offensive Player of the Year for the 2024 season. This was her second time receiving the award, previously winning the honor in 2022.
“None of this would be possible without the Lord, my coaches here at Maryville and my family who gave me continuous support on and off of the soccer field,” Lee shared.
Lee has been playing soccer for 17 years, originally drawn to the sport because of her older brother. She says that as she got older, playing soccer became her favorite thing to do every day.
Her brother was her role model, who played soccer in college as well. Lee said that she looked up to her brother growing up, and he led her to begin looking at MC when she was 13. Additionally, Lee’s high school soccer team was coached by Pepe Fernandez, head coach of the men’s and women’s soccer teams at MC. She credits her success to the two of them.
The women’s soccer team had a successful season, going 13-3-4, They also won the CCS tournament and made it to the first round of the NCAA Division III championship.
Lee and Fernandez both gave insight into the process behind the CCS awards. Lee explained that all of the coaches in the CCS conference vote on who they think should win each award, picking which player fits best in each category.
“The first time that I won Offensive Player of the Year was my sophomore year,” said Lee. “I wasn’t expecting to get an award like that because I honestly didn’t think sophomores could get [the award]. [Fernandez] told me that I won offensive player of the year, and I thought he was kidding.
“He told me how proud he was of me because he knew how much work I put in that summer, and he saw it paying off the whole season. As soon as I got off the phone with [Fernandez], I called my parents in total shock and disbelief. My family has always been my biggest supporters, so it didn’t even feel real until I told them,” she said.
Fernandez stated that everyone was excited for her and that she had a fantastic season.
“It’s such a difficult award. The team has to do well, and she has to be outstanding,” he said. “To [win] twice in four years is impressive.”
“Winning the award a second time was kind of surreal. My junior year season was not as impressive as my sophomore season, so coming into my senior year I knew that I was my last go around and I had nothing to lose,” Lee explained.
Lee said that even though she scored a lot of goals this season, she never thought she would win CCS Offensive Player of the Year a second time. She claims that when Fernandez first told her, she could not believe it.
“It felt just as special to me as the first time I won,” she said, adding that she works hard for her teammates, not just herself. “They pushed me to do my best every day at practice, so I wanted to be my best for them. Because of that, I feel like my team won me this award.”
When asked what he believes goes into team success, Fernandez explained that first, there is the obvious answer—having great players.
“Second is their commitment to each other and having a high standard that they hold each other accountable to. This group of women is pretty amazing,” he added, stressing that they most definitely raise each other up.
Fernandez shared what he believes to be the most important piece of coaching, which is seeing MC players succeed—on and off the field, in and out of the classroom. He also added that seeing successful careers and relationships of athletes post-graduation is rewarding, as is witnessing the relationships among teammates during the season.
He additionally wanted to emphasize how proud he is of Lee and the rest of the team, stating that they work incredibly hard and are a lot of fun to be around.
