Senior Krista Vansant (Redlands, Calif.) of the University of Washington was named the Honda Sports Award winner for Volleyball for the second-straight season as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.

The Honda Sports Award is presented annually by the CWSA to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. With this honor, Vansant becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup. She attended the presentation in Los Angeles last year for the 2014 Honda Cup winner. Vansant was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included Inky Ajanaku (Stanford), Lauren Carlini (Wisconsin) and Micha Hancock (Penn State).

“Winning the Honda Award again is such a humbling honor,” said Vansant. “I have to attribute this award to my coaches and teammates because without them I wouldn't be the player or person that I am today. This is a great way to end my career at the University of Washington.”

“One of the hardest things an athlete has to deal with is developing great consistency as they continue to improve and then dealing with the expectations that come along with improvement and becoming great,” stated head coach Jim McLaughlin. “Krista has done that as well as anyone I've ever coached. She has never lost sight of what's really important and that's continuing to learn from every opportunity. She controlled her thoughts and emotions and she worked as hard as she could every day. She understands this and must continue to apply it as she climbs the ladder of her career. I loved being in the gym with her every day and I think this award is a very appropriate gratification for all the hard work Krista has done.”

Vansant, the class of 2014 Honda Award winner for volleyball, is a two-time AVCA first-team All-American and was recently named the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for Volleyball and the ESPNW National Volleyball Player of the Year. The senior outside hitter is a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and was named the 2014 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A native of Redlands, Calif., she finished her career as the leader in kills at Washington with 1,893 and this season posted a career-best .320 hitting percentage along with a career-high 4.67 kills per set.

“Krista is everything you could ask for to represent the University of Washington,” stated Senior Associate Athletics Director Lance Lopes. “Her accomplishments on the court speak for themselves.  Her accomplishments in the classroom speak even louder because those are done outside of the spotlight.  Her ability to excel in both arenas is what makes Krista such a special student athlete.”

The CWSA presents the Honda Sports Award annually to top women student-athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.  Honda Sports award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sports award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Honda Cup award presented in June.

Five Honda Sports Awards winners for volleyball have gone on to win the prestigious Honda Cup- Megan Hodge (Penn State, 2010), Sarah Pavan (Nebraska, 2007), Ogonna Nnamani (Stanford, 2005), Misty May (Long Beach State, 1999) and Deitre Collins (Hawaii, 1983).

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 38 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 $2.8 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.