Story courtesy of Massachusetts Athletic Communications

AMHERST, Mass. – Recent UMass field hockey graduate Myrte van Herwijnen received one of her most impressive honors to date on Tuesday, earning Academic All-America® Women's At-Large first team recognition from the College Sports Communicators (CSC). It marks her second consecutive Academic All-America award, after garnering second-team honors one year ago.

Van Herwijnen was one of just 15 Division I student-athletes recognized across the at-large category, featuring a variety of sports. Among the first team honorees were student-athletes from beach volleyball, golf, fencing, lacrosse, skiing and gymnastics. van Herwijnen was one of just two from field hockey named to the first team.

Van Herwijnen owns a perfect 4.0 graduate point average as a Hospitality & Tourism Management major. Throughout her four years at UMass, she was named to the Dean's List every semester and collected NFHCA National Academic Squad and Scholar of Distinction honors each season. Van Herwijnen recently received the MAC Medal of Excellence Award, presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each of the 13 Conference member institutions. For the honor, student-athletes must have participated at the varsity level in a conference-sponsored sport, maintained a minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA, and demonstrated excellence in athletics, leadership and service.

On the field, the Huizen, Netherlands, native established herself as one of the nation's premier goalkeepers. During her senior season, she earned Mid-American Conference Goalkeeper of the Year honors, collected first team All-MAC recognition and was named ECAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the nation in save percentage (.826) and finishing second nationally in goals-against average (0.72). She posted a 16-4 record with nine shutouts while helping lead the Minutewomen to a MAC regular-season championship and conference championship game appearance.

A four-time all-conference selection, Van Herwijnen concluded her career ranked among the best goalkeepers in UMass history. She finished with 56 career victories, second-most in program history, and a 1.16 career goals-against average, which ranks sixth all-time. She also helped guide Massachusetts to the NCAA Final Four in 2024 and earned multiple All-America and all-region honors during her career.