Radford University’s women’s soccer alumna Jessica Wollmann ’19 was one of a select few student-athletes in the nation to be awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $10,000 are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport’s season (fall, winter and spring). Each sports season 21 scholarships are available for men and 21 scholarships are available for women for use in an accredited graduate program.
All former student-athletes who earned an undergraduate degree from an NCAA member school are eligible to be nominated by that school for an NCAA graduate degree scholarship, regardless of when they received their undergraduate degree.
“In order to provide Ms. Wollmann with the best reference possible, we had a series of Zoom interviews and email exchanges,” said Radford Athletics’ NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative Holly Cline. “I have enjoyed getting to know Jessica on a personal level,” Cline said. “She is smart, kind, and extremely impressive. She has a clear vision as to why she is pursuing a PhD. And it is no wonder why she competed so fiercely in her sport. Within ten minutes of talking to her, I could tell that she was driven to achieve her graduate degree and destined to be successful.”
Wollmann finished her undergraduate studies with a perfect 4.00 GPA while majoring in anthropological studies. She was named the 2019 Virginia Collegiate Honors Council (VCHC) Scholar of the Year, the Big South Woman of the Year, and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was also named an Academic All-America First Team member by the college sports information directors of America. Most recently the Big South honored her as its Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Wollmann was a Top-10 Finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and is a recipient of the Big South’s prestigious Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.
The Blacksburg native was also awarded the Radford Artis College of Science and Technology Outstanding Student Award at the end of her senior year. Wollmann’s volunteer activities include the Blacksburg Girls Soccer Program, Martin Luther King Day of Service, the Montgomery County Special Olympics, and Fear 2 Freedom – student-made kits for when sexual assault survivors are released from the hospital. She was also involved in the Radford University community with the Center of Accessibility Services, Student Government, the Anthropology Club, and the Board of Visitors.
Wollmann finished her playing career at Radford University with 63 starts across 69 games played. She scored 20 career goals and added 19 career assists for 59 total points in her career.
Since leaving Radford, Wollmann has been working toward a graduate degree at the University of Toronto and will pursue her Ph.D. as well. Among her many passions, she hopes to inspire future scientists by curating museum exhibits geared to scientific and creative inquiry.