University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo women’s soccer player Grace VerHage was named Pacific West Conference Player of the Week on September 6.
The fifth-year-senior transfer earned the honor after scoring two goals in her first game as a Vulcan. VerHage found the back of the net in the 28th and 65th minute of the Vulcans’ season opener on September 1 to help lead the team to a 4-1 victory over Cal State East Bay.
The former Ferris State University Bulldog was a team leader in goals scored and earned an array of conference, regional and national honors. With the COVID-19 pandemic allowing an additional year of eligibility for student-athletes who competed during the 2020–21 season, VerHage considered what her future path would look like. Eventually, after getting in contact with UH Hilo women’s soccer Head Coach Gene Okamura, she decided to transfer to UH Hilo for her fifth year.
“If you would have asked 18-year-old Grace, ‘where do you think you would be in four years?,’ it definitely would not have been in Hawaiʻi,” VerHage said. “It’s been fantastic. I was telling Gene my mental health is so incredible here. Oh my gosh, I’m just so happy all the time and so grateful to go out every day.”
To read more about VerHage’s journey to becoming a Vulcan, visit hiloathletics.com.
