Georgia Gwinnett College first-team tennis NAIA All-Americans Santiago Villarruel and MaryLove Edwards have been named the Office of Athletics' Male and Female Athlete of the Year award winners for the successful 2025-26 athletic season.

Women's soccer goalkeeper Svenja Hoppe received the Grizzly Award and men's soccer Assistant Coach Jorge Vallejo earned the Service Award.

The Office of Athletics' yearly awards cover GGC's core values of leadership (Grizzly Award), service and pursuing excellence (Athlete of the Year) within the college's eight athletic teams. The winners were chosen by a group of GGC coaches and athletic staff members.

Villarruel, a senior, has received the Male Athlete of the Year honor for the second straight season. He capped his standout tennis career as a first-team NAIA All-American and an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American in singles and doubles. Villarruel captured NAIA singles and doubles national championships during the fall portion of the 2025-26 season.

This spring Villarruel helped guide the Grizzlies to an undefeated 25-0 record that featured sweeping the NAIA indoor and outdoor national championships. He posted a 17-1 doubles record and went 9-1 in singles action this spring.

Edwards, a sophomore, was a first-team NAIA All-American after winning all 13 matches on the No. 1 singles court. She added a 13-3 record in doubles, with all of those matches also being played at the top of the team's lineup.

Edwards concluded this spring with top-35 ITA national rankings in singles and doubles.

Hoppe epitomized the student-athlete definition by earning the Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athlete honor, being named to GGC's Athletics Director Honor Roll, and volunteering time assisting with recruiting visits and calls to prospective student-athletes. The senior donated most of her belongings to an Anti-Human Trafficking organization after graduating with a degree in exercise science. Hoppe was in front of the GGC goal for six matches, while starting one.

Vallejo completed his 14th season as an assistant coach for the men's soccer program. However, his contributions to GGC Athletics have included organizing community service projects for GGC athletic staff members and teams in Lawrenceville and Gwinnett County through his non-profit Upper 90 organization. Vallejo also has organized past Fellowship of Christian Athlete meetings and events for the department.