College: Van Winkle played beach volleyball at UCLA. As a freshman she went 29-5 mostly on court three with Zana Muno. That duo clinched the final point in the NCAA Championship win. Van Winkle was 25-5 against ranked teams her first season and had a 24-match winning streak. The next season she teamed with Savvy Simo on court one, finishing with a 13-2 match record, including 9-2 against ranked teams before the season was cut short due to COVID. Van Winkle went 21-9 as a junior with three different partners, mostly on court two. She played on court one as a senior, mostly alongside Lexy Denaburg, and ended with a 30-11 record. She was on the UCLA team for one year (2022) along with her younger sister Tessa. Van Winkle finished her UCLA career with 120 match wins, just three shy of the program record.

Personal:  Van Winkle two younger sisters, Tessa, who plays beach volleyball at UCLA, and Audrey. Her mother Laurie won two national championships indoors at UCLA and her great uncle Bob Ramsey both swam and played water polo at UCLA, winning a pair of national championships. She was a 2018 First Team AVCA High School Beach All-American and with Lindsey Sparks became the first team to win the AAU Triple Crown, winning the Junior Nationals, Junior Olympics and the Best of the Beach.