Dordt student-athlete Macy Sievers receives prestigious Emil S. Liston Award

Dordt University senior Macy Sievers has been named the recipient of the NAIA's 2025 Emil S. Liston Award for women's basketball, announced Monday as part of the organization's National Awards Day for the 2024-25 school year.

Sievers, a senior from Newell-Fonda High School (Iowa), will graduate with a degree in elementary education and has maintained a 3.87 grade point average. She is the first student-athlete in Dordt history to receive this national honor.

The Emil S. Liston Award, presented by Daktronics, recognizes academic and athletic excellence among junior student-athletes in men's and women's basketball. Named in honor of the NAIA's first executive secretary and a key figure in the creation of the NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament, the award has been presented annually since 1950 to one junior men's and one junior women's basketball student-athlete. Each recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship.

"Macy is one of the most driven and unique individuals I have had the privilege to coach," says Women's Basketball Coach Head Coach Bill Harmsen. "She passionately serves her community, develops deep relationships with her teammates, and pursues excellence on the basketball floor like few others. Macy loves and serves her teammates well — not for personal accolades, but to give them her best daily."

Sievers has helped lead the Defenders to back-to-back NAIA National Championships (2024, 2025) and three consecutive GPAC titles. Over the past three seasons, Dordt has posted a 100-8 overall record and 61-5 mark in GPAC play. Individually, Sievers has scored 1,315 career points (8th all-time), collected 694 rebounds (13th), handed out a school-record 732 assists, and tallied 279 steals (2nd all-time).

"Macy excels in the classroom just as she does on the basketball court," says Education Professor Dr. Gwen Marra. "She's a hard-working, responsible student who takes her professional responsibilities seriously. Even during basketball's long season, she remains organized and dedicated to both teaching and basketball."

Sievers' accolades include:

• NAIA National Tournament MVP (2024, 2025)
• NAIA National Player of the Year (2025)
• NAIA First Team All-American (2024, 2025)
• GPAC Player of the Year (2025)
• CSC Academic All-District and First Team CSC Academic All-American (2025)
• Multiple GPAC postseason honors, including Freshman of the Year (2023)

"Macy is a treasure to her church, family, the Dordt community, and our basketball program," Harmsen says.

"God has blessed her with many gifts, and she seeks to use them to the best of her ability," adds Marra.

Learn more at godordt.com.

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.