VILLANOVA, Pa.—It was a matinee celebration on Monday afternoon as Villanova Athletics kicked off graduation week on campus by recognizing the graduating student-athletes of the Class of 2025 at Finneran Pavilion. The annual reception was hosted by Vice President and Director of Athletics Eric Roedl, while the graduates from each team were announced and presented with their senior watches by their head coach.
 
This year's graduating class numbers nearly 150 student-athletes from all varsity programs and is a particularly special group both in size and in their collective success in athletic competition and academic achievement over the past four years. The Class of 2025 has combined for 30 national postseason appearances, 12 conference titles and 17 individual BIG EAST champions. The list of accolades for the graduating class of student-athletes continues to grow as several teams remain in competition through the end of the spring sports season.
 
The graduating class has been even more impressive in their pursuit of excellence in the classroom, with 57 selections to national all-academic teams to go along with 321 appearances on conference all-academic teams and 573 honorees on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
 
Earning top honors during Monday's reception were three student-athletes from the women's lacrosse, football and women's tennis programs. Sydney Pappas (women's lacrosse) and Shane Hartzell (football) were selected as this year's Senior Student-Athletes of the Year, while Valieriia Kornieva (women's tennis) was the winner of a Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award.
 
The Senior Student-Athlete of the Year Award is the highest honor Villanova Athletics bestows upon its student-athletes, while the Cribben Award was established in 1985 to honor outstanding student-athletes who are described as unselfishly sacrificing time, effort, body and soul to lead and motivate their teammates in excelling for Villanova through inspiration
 
Reilly Dugan from men's lacrosse was chosen to speak on behalf of the Class of 2025 and address his fellow student-athletes.
 
"It wasn't just the wins or the tradition that drew me in [to Villanova]," Dugan said. "It was the people. Villanova wasn't just a school; it was a family. Being a student-athlete is about more than wearing the blue and white. It means showing up, chasing excellence, not just for ourselves but for our teammates and coaches.
 
"This journey was about the grind, the heartbreaks and comebacks, the quiet moments when teammates picked you up. It shaped us into leaders, and I am incredibly proud to have worn this jersey. This may be the end of our careers, but we will always carry a piece of Villanova with us, and whenever we come back, we won't be visitors; we'll be home."
 
Senior Student-Athlete of the Year
Sydney Pappas, Women's Lacrosse
 
Pappas capped off a record-setting career by leading Villanova to the BIG EAST championship game for the first time in program history this season. She became the Wildcats all-time leading goal scorer during the 2025 campaign and ranks second in school history in career points. Pappas garnered All-BIG EAST recognition in 2025 for the third straight year, earning second team accolades to go along with first team honors each of the two previous seasons. Her best season came as a sophomore in 2023 when Pappas was named the BIG EAST Co-Attacker of the Year, earned first team all-conference recognition and was selected to the IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region second team.
 
Pappas was a nine-time BIG EAST weekly award winner during her career and was named to this year's BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament Team as the Wildcats hosted the conference tournament and defeated Connecticut on the way to reaching the championship game. She ended the 2025 season with a team-high 48 goals and ranked second on the squad with 14 assists and 62 points. Pappas' 181 career goals are a program record and she ranks second in school history with 214 points.
 
Off the field, Pappas was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District list in 2024. She is a three-time selection to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and a six-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
 
Senior Student-Athlete of the Year
Shane Hartzell, Football
 
Hartzell has developed into one of the top performers on an outstanding Villanova defense over the course of his collegiate career. He has earned CAA Football postseason honors in each of the last two years, including being a first team selection for the 2024 campaign when the Wildcats reached the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. Hartzell led the defense with five sacks in 2024 while ranking second on the squad with 121 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss. He had double digit tackles four times during the year, including a monster game against New Hampshire when his 20 total stops earned him both national and conference weekly honors. He earned Phil Steele second team All-America honors for the 2024 season.
 
Hartzell has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester GPA above a 3.2 in all seven of his semesters on campus, with the Spring 2025 Honor Roll not yet released. He has also landed on the CAA Football Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll every semester, including achieving High Honors in Spring 2024 when he posted a GPA above a 3.7.
 
Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award
Valieriia Kornieva, Women's Tennis
 
Kornieva left her native Ukraine to come to Villanova at the start of the 2021-22 academic year. During the first semester of her collegiate career, she battled a shoulder injury and was still learning English well enough to communicate effectively with her teammates. By her second semester in Spring 2022 she was more confident in speaking and building strong connections with her teammates, but the native of Dnipro, Ukraine had more hardship and heartbreak to contend with when her home country was invaded and her family split up.
 
In his presentation of the Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award on Monday afternoon, women's tennis head coach Steve Reiniger spoke of the inspiration Kornieva showed in the face of adversity. He noted that her "never give up" mindset applied not only to her family and everyday life but also to how she approached each tennis match that she played in. He recalled two specific matches during her career, against Seton Hall in 2022 and 2024 when Kornieva clinched the team victory in BIG EAST Championship matches. In addition to her success on the court, Kornieva is a three-time member of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and a four-time selection to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.