STANFORD, Calif. - Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku is one of four nominees for the Honda Sport Award for Volleyball as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
Other nominees include Ebony Nwanebu from the University of Texas, University of Nebraska's Kadie Rolfzen and Sarah Wilhite of the University of Minnesota. All four are members of 2016 NCAA Final Four teams.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 41 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2017 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 26, 2017, in downtown Los, Angeles.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Honda Sport award winner for volleyball will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Ajanaku, a middle blocker from Tulsa, Oklahoma, led the Cardinal to its record-tying seventh national title after being named the 2016 NCAA Final Four MOP. She is a three-time AVCA First Team All-American and is a 2016 Senior CLASS Award First Team All-American. A four-time All-Pac-12 Conference honoree, she led the Pac-12 in blocks (184) and blocks per set (1.52) to rank fifth and sixth in the nation, respectively. She capped her career with 619 total blocks, the most in school history in the rally-scoring era.
Honda Sport award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sport award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2017 Honda Cup award presented in June.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards have honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes for 41 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.5 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs at the institutions.