Adolpho nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

Hawaii two-sport athlete Kalei Adolpho has been nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year, the NCAA announced Friday.

Adolpho played both volleyball and basketball for three seasons for the Rainbow Wahine before playing just volleyball last fall where she earned first-team All-Big West honors. The Molokai High graduate, on the conference all-academic teams in both sports, will return to the Rainbow Wahine basketball season this fall as a graduate student.

Two other athletes from Hawaii were nominated. Pepperdine golfer Alina Ching, a 2011 Punahou School graduate, was nominated. Ching was a four-time all-WCC selection and three-time WCC all-academic first team pick. Geena Fong, the starting goalkeeper at Division III Lewis & Clark, was nominated as well. Fong is a Maryknoll graduate. The trio are among the 480 females nominated, the most in the 25-year history of the program.

The award honors graduating female college athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
The selection process continues with each conference forwarding two names to the Woman of the Year committee. The committee cuts the list to 30 honorees, 10 each from Division I, II and III.

Three finalists are selected from each division with the announcement of the winner coming at the annual awards ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 10.