BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University women's soccer seniors
Natalie Dierickx and
Jenna Killman have earned Scholar All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches.
Dierickx and Killman, both seniors that helped lead the Vikings to a sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional title game, were part of the 13-player Scholar All-West Region Team. Dierickx earned Second Team Scholar All-America honors and Killman was a third-team pick.
The Vikings two Scholar All-Americans met the criteria by the United Soccer Coaches of maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average, started more than 50 percent of all team games as a significant contributor and is a junior or above in academic standing.
| 2021 UNITED SOCCER COACHES SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICANS |
| Name |
Team |
Year |
Major |
GPA |
Hometown |
| Natalie Dierickx |
1st |
Sr. |
Communications |
3.41 |
Kirkland, WA |
| Jenna Killman |
3rd |
Sr. |
International Business |
3.57 |
Olympia, WA |
Dierickx concluded her student-athlete career at WWU with a large list of accolades, including earning First Team All-America honors as a junior in 2019, a three-time First Team All-GNAC selection, 2021 Academic All-District 8 and a four-time All-GNAC Academic award winner. During her senior season in 2021 she earned First Team All-GNAC and All-West Region honors. In 76 career games for the Vikings she set the program record with 58 wins, ranked 3rd with 29 shutouts and 4th with a 0.57 goals against average.
Killman concluded a standout senior season that included leading the GNAC and the West Region with 14 goals, a mark that tied for 20th-most in NCAA Division II in 2021 and 10th-best in WWU history. The Olympia native was a First Team All-GNAC and D2CCCA All-West Region selection, in addition to earning second-team regional honors from United Soccer Coaches. She was a two-time All-GNAC Academic All-Star and graduated last weekend with a degree in International Business and a minor in Economics.
Dierickx and Killman join an elite list of Vikings to earn Scholar All-America honors from United Soccer Coaches, with four players being selected in 2019. Here is a look at the list of Vikings to earn the prestigious academic award:
| WWU SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICANS |
| 2013 |
Kristin Maris, F |
| 2016 |
Elise Aylward, F |
| 2017 |
Emily Webster, M (1st) |
| |
Sierra Shugarts, D (2nd) |
| 2018 |
Emily Nelson, D (2nd) |
| 2019 |
Emily Nelson, D (1st) |
| |
Karli White, F (1st) |
| |
Grace Eversaul, M (2nd) |
| |
Annalise Laurila, D (3rd) |
| 2021 |
Natalie Dierickx, GK (2nd) |
| |
Jenna Killman, F (3rd) |
The two Scholar All-America awards add to an impressive list of academic honors for the Vikings in 2021, with a program-record 22 players being selected to the All-GNAC Academic squad and Dierickx and senior midfielder
Grace Eversaul earning CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 honors.
Student-athletes on this year's Scholar All-America Teams will be formally acknowledged for their accomplishments on the field and in the classroom at the United Soccer Coaches All-America Ceremony & Reception on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022 at the Kansas City Convention Center in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Convention.
