Jessica Tsao is our Lowe's Senior Award finalist this year!

Classroom
Jessica Tsao has a 3.9703 cumulative grade-point average as a biology major. She was a 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team member and a 2009 Academic All-District VIII First Team selection. She has twice been named to the West Coast Conference All-Academic Team. She has been a member of the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll all three seasons and has posted a perfect 4.0 during three semesters at Portland. She has been a Dean’s List (3.5 GPA or higher) honoree every semester at Portland as a member of the UP Honors Program. Tsao has worked as a research assistant for a professor during the summer of 2009 and helped write a manuscript that is in the process of being submitted for publication.

Character
Tsao overcame a torn ACL in October of her senior year in high school and missed all spring and summer training as she transitioned to college. She recovered just in time to begin her UP career as a starting defender in the season opener. She is one of the senior captains on the 2010 Portland squad and currently serves on the University of Portland Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Community
Tsao volunteers regularly to teach science lessons to kindergartners at a local elementary school. She has also hosted high school biology students on campus and acted as a mentor for 7th grade girls. For the last three years, Tsao has cooked meals at the Ronald McDonald House and was one of the key UP team members that helped raise over $6,000 to create a UP soccer-sponsored room at the charity.

Competition
Tsao is a three-year starting defender and has helped lead Portland to the NCAA quarterfinals all three years with a combined record of 59-8-0 (.881). She has earned All-WCC honors each of the last two seasons and was a member of the All-WCC Freshman Team in 2007. Despite being a defender, Tsao has racked up 15 career assists, including nine in 2009. Portland has ranked in the top 10 nationally all three of her seasons in goals-against average. She was selected to play for the USA Under-23 National Team in 2009 and appeared in five matches in international play.