BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former United States women’s national water polo team member Ashley Grossman joins the University of Michigan women’s water polo staff as a volunteer assistant coach.
A full-time Masters of Business Administration (MBA) student at Michigan’s Ross School of Business, Grossman attended Harvard-Westlake High School (Class of 2011), earning four letters in water polo and captain of the water polo team her final two years. Her senior year she was named All-America, CIF Southern Section Division I Player of the Year, and Mission League Most Valuable Player (MVP). She competed in the 2009 and 2011 Junior World Water Polo Championships, and was named MVP of the 2010 Junior Olympics. In 2011, she and high school baseball player Max Fried – currently of the Atlanta Braves – won the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame High School Award.
A 2015 graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Science, Technology and Society, she helped the Cardinal capture three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships during her tenure in Palo Alto.
As a freshman in 2012, Grossman notched 50 goals to earn recognition as an Association of College Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America Honorable Mention and All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Honorable Mention selection as Stanford captured the NCAA Championship hosted by San Diego State University. Further, she garnered notice on the MPSF All-Newcomer Team.
In 2013 as a sophomore, she scored 20 goals despite missing the first half of the season due to injury as the Cardinal finished as the runner-up at the NCAA Championship hosted by Harvard University. A year later in 2014, she was an ACWPC All-America Honorable Mention and All-MPSF Honorable Mention pick during a 45-goal season in which Stanford reclaimed its prior position as NCAA Champion by picking up the title at the University of Southern California.
During a senior season in which she netted 54 goals in 2015, she posted her best marks by earning ACWPC First Team All-America, NCAA Championship All-Tournament First Team and All-MPSF Second Team status as the Cardinal earned their third NCAA Championship in four years by taking the title at home.
She ranked 10th in Stanford history with 169 goals at the time of her graduation and was the co-recipient of the Pam Strathairn Award at the Stanford Athletic Board Awards, for her competitive attitude. In 2016, she was awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship for her academic and athletic achievements.
Away from Stanford, she won a gold medal at the FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships in 2013 and was part of the United States’ 2014 silver medal squad at the FINA Women’s Water Polo Intercontinental Tournament.
Further, she competed for Team USA in the 2015 FINA Women’s Water Polo World League as it won a gold medal in June 2015, and the 2015 Pan American Games against Argentina, Cuba and Mexico as Team USA won a gold medal.
