GREENWOOD, Ind. -- After excelling both on and off the field for the Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team, Gabby Saia earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators on Tuesday afternoon.

Saia received the prestigious honor for the second straight year, joining former legends Hope Hunter and Emma Jackson as the only two-time recipients in program history.

In order to be eligible for the award, student-athletes must have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA while serving as a starter or key reserve. With her selection, Saia is now eligible for Academic All-American honors, which will be voted on by a national committee later this month.

Founded in 1952, the CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-American program recognizes standouts from all sports across all divisions of the NCAA. There are over 20,000 total nominations every year with fewer than 10 percent of those student-athletes receiving the nation's highest academic honor.

Solidifying her spot as one of the country's top defensive standouts, Saia was a consensus All-American after earning third-team honors from both USA Lacrosse Magazine and the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. She was also a first-team All-Conference and All-Region selection for her performance during the spring.

Starting all 23 games, Saia was a stabilizing force on the back end for the Captains throughout the 2026 campaign. During the season, she posted 52 caused turnovers, which marked the third-highest total in program history and placed her 20th on this year's national leaderboard. She also established a new career-high with 42 ground balls, which was the fifth-most in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference.

Remarkably consistent, Saia caused at least one turnover in 21 of her 23 appearances, including seven strips against Lynchburg on March 7. That equaled the fourth-highest single-game total in school history. Later, she had five takeaways against Mary Washington in the semifinals of the league playoffs on April 29, which matched the third-most by a Captain in a postseason game.

Continuing her success in the national playoffs, Saia had seven caused turnovers in the NCAA Tournament, including two strips and four ground balls in a win at No. 11 Washington and Lee on May 10. Overall, 17 of her caused turnovers came against nationally-ranked competition during the year, including three at No. 4 Salisbury on April 25.

Meanwhile, off the field, the social work major continued to boast a near perfect GPA. In addition to her Academic All-District accolades, Saia has been a perennial member of the Academic All-Conference Team.

Aided by Saia's work during the spring, Christopher Newport eventually advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time in program history while finishing the year ranked 12th in the final IWLCA National Coaches Poll.

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