Recent Western Kentucky graduate Emma Kowalkowski has been named one of 14 recipients of the 2020 Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship, the Conference USA office announced on Thursday.

The defensive specialist joins Rachel Engle, Sydney Engle and Rachel Anderson as a recipient of the prestigious honor following a tremendous career under the direction of Lady Topper volleyball coach Travis Hudson.

A WKU volleyball representative has earned the scholarship each of the last three years and four of the last five.

This is the 12th year that the scholarships have been presented in honor of Dr. Jim Castañeda, who served Rice University for 46 years as an educator, coach and faculty athletics representative before he passed away in November 2008. The conference annually awards the $4,000 postgraduate scholarships to graduates as selected by the C-USA faculty athletics representatives and approved by the Board of Directors.

Kowalkowski earned her undergraduate degree at WKU this past spring after registering a cumulative 3.64 GPA while studying sport management with a minor in facility and event management.

A native of Lake Orion, Mich., Kowalkowski helped WKU to three C-USA regular season and tournament championships during her career. Across her four seasons, the Lady Tops posted a combined record of 113-19 including a 52-4 mark in league matches.

Kowalkowski is as decorated on the court as she is off of it. Earning C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll twice to go along with a Commissioner’s Academic Medal honor. Additionally, the Michigan native landed on the WKU President’s List five times and the Dean’s List two more semesters.

Kowalkowski played in every set of every match of her four-year WKU career. Across 472 sets played, Kowalkowski racked up 1,017 digs, 2.15 digs per set, 165 assists, 110 aces and 121.0 total points.

Kowalkowski is a WKU SAAC member in addition to being a board member for the Sport Management Club. she has volunteered for numerous outings with Habitat For Humanity. She’s also heavily involved in WKU’s United Way Day of Caring every summer. She also lended a hand while gaining experience as a volunteer at the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville this past spring.

Kowalkowski has also spent her past three winter breaks interning with the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit.