Yelensky Named Finalist for 2025 Princeton University C. Otto Von Kienbusch Award
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Kayla Yelensky (Sr., Stamford, Conn./Greenwich Academy) of the Princeton University women’s water polo team is among five Princeton University student-athletes named finalists for the C. Otto von Kienbusch award which is awarded annually to a Princeton senior woman of high scholastic rank who has demonstrated general proficiency in athletics and the qualities of a true sportswoman. Presented in memory of C. Otto v. Kienbusch ’06, friend and benefactor of women’s athletics at Princeton.
The von Kienbusch Award will be presented at the Gary Walters ’67 Princeton Varsity Club Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 22, starting at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
KAYLA YELENSKY | WOMEN’S WATER POLO
A four-time Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) All-Conference player and soon to be three-time All-America selection, Kayla Yelensky was the engine of the Princeton women’s water polo team’s offense during her time with the Tigers. Yelensky led the Tigers to three CWPA Championship appearances including the 2023 and 2024 titles. In 2023, Yelensky registered 60 goals and 87 points for a squad that finished 30-4 overall, just the third team in program history to have least 30 victories (2014, 2015). Princeton won the CWPA title that season and reached the national semifinals for the first time ever, marking the first non-West Coast team to get to the Final Four since 2016. Yelensky set a new career high with 94 goals in 2025 becoming just the third Tiger to ever record 90+ goals in a season. A School of Public and International Affairs major from Stamford, Conn., Yelensky is a three-time Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic member and CWPA Scholar Athlete, finishing her career with 278 goals, second-most all-time, along with 113 assists, 91 steals and 179 drawn ejections.
