The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) has claimed both 2019 HBCU Digest Coach of the Year Awards.

The HBCU Awards are the first and only national awards ceremony honoring individual and institutional achievements at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Virginia Union University's AnneMarie Gilbert was named HBCU Digest Women's Coach of the Year joining Virginia State's Lonnie Blow, Jr., who picked up Male Coach of the Year honors.

The awards ceremony was held Saturday, August 3 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in downtown Baltimore.

Gilbert led the VUU Lady Panthers to its second consecutive CIAA Women’s Basketball Championship. VUU made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the fourth straight year where the school has landed an NCAA Tournament berth.

Under the leadership of Coach Blow, the VSU Trojans rounded out a record breaking 2018-19 season with a 28-5 overall record, collecting the most single season wins in program history. During the season, the team raked in 16 consecutive wins, also the most in program history.

VSU won the CIAA's Northern Division Title and the 2019 CIAA Tournament Championship, the third in Blow's career. Winning the CIAA title
earned VSU a berth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament, where they ultimately advanced to the semifinals.