University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s water polo Emma Van Rossum has been selected as one of the Big West Conference’s two nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
The award honors graduating female student-athletes across all three NCAA divisions who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Van Rossum earned bachelor’s degrees in information and computer science and psychology while maintaining a GPA of 3.93. She was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic At-Large All-District honors and was an academic All-Big West selection.
The Rainbow Wahine captain was named twice to the All-Big West second team (2021 and 2023) and was an honorable mention selection as a freshman in 2019. She was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 2021 Big West Championship after helping the Rainbow Wahine capture the conference title. She ended her UH career by earning Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-America honorable mention recognition.
Van Rossum was the female recipient of the Jack Bonham Award, which is the UH Mānoa athletic department’s most prestigious honor, presented to the school’s top senior student-athlete.
“Emma is a leader that embodies everything a coach and a team hopes for,” UH coach Maureen Cole said. “She is always prepared. She’s talented but never relied on talent alone as she was the hardest worker in the pool. She competes with heart, is an excellent communicator, and she puts her teammates first and she cares about her community in Hawaiʻi. She set a standard that will be passed on to the next generation of Wahine and I couldn’t be more thankful to have had her as a part of our program.”
The 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year will be awarded at the 2024 NCAA Convention in January.
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