2008: In limited playing time her freshman season, VanderWel was impressive during her time on the court. From the serving stripe, she twice recorded four service aces in a match, tied for the second-highest total recorded by any Eagle in 2009. The first such performance came in a 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19 win over Notre Dame on Sept. 5 and the second helped the Eagles to a 25-27, 25-20, 25-16, 26-24 win over Washington State the following day. She also had a pair of service aces against the Cougars to go with her first-ever double-digit dig total of the campaign, 10. In a 3-0 loss to Idaho earlier that day, she attained her lone kill of the year.

High School: VanderWel played at a high level throughout her time at Woodinville High School. Her sophomore year, she earned KingCo 4A Conference honorable mention accolades. As a junior she possessed a spot on the second team and, her senior campaign, she was named to the first team. VanderWel helped the Falcons to second-place finishes in the league her sophomore and junior seasons and, as a captain, a league title her senior year. The team advanced to state her junior and senior seasons. She also was a member of the school’s gymnastics squad from 2005-07. VanderWel played her club volleyball at the Washington Volleyball Academy from 2004-08 where she helped lead squads to Junior Olympic championships. She plans to major in business at Eastern Washington. Her parents are Paul and Christine VanderWel.