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April 7, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - With the induction of Kim Pitman to the USC Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame in February, the Upstate volleyball team added one more rung in the legend of one of the most successful programs in school history.

One of the oldest women's programs at Upstate, the program has a 33-season history that includes 823 wins, three NAIA District Six Championships, three Peach Belt Conference Championships and two bids to the NCAA Division II Tournament. From Joe Bowman's 356 wins during 11 seasons as head coach to Jennifer Calloway's 245 wins during her 12 seasons, the volleyball team has grown and changed with the university.

The volleyball program was started in 1975 and quickly grew into a regional power in the NAIA with Bowman starting a string of back-to-back-to-back trips to the NAIA National Tournament in 1987.

"We started to have success and it started to build on itself," Bowman said. "We gradually got some better kids and the program just grew. It took us a while but we got to the point where we were the best in NAIA District Six. It was a slow workmanlike progression."

As the school made the transition to the Peach Belt Conference and the NCAA Division II in 1991, the Lady Rifles kept on winning, starting a string of three straight conference championships in 1993. In 1996, just a year removed from graduating, Calloway took the job and sustained the program's legacy, taking the team to the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and 2001.

As 2004 rolled around, big changes came for the university and the athletic department with a university name change to USC Upstate to embrace all of Upstate South Carolina and make it a truly regional campus and a nickname change to Spartans to embrace the Spartanburg roots of the campus.

Success continued for the Spartans, as Calloway's squad won 20 matches in both 2005 and 2006 and made the Peach Belt Conference semifinals for the fifth straight year in 2006. When the university made the transition to the Atlantic Sun Conference and Division I in 2007, it was the volleyball team that fittingly led the way. In the school's first Division I athletic contest, the Spartan volleyball team posted an impressive 3-0 win over Savannah State on Aug. 24. The team went on to become the first Upstate team to win 10 matches in a season and finished ninth in the A-Sun.

Along the way, Upstate volleyball has left a legacy of impressive players that includes two NCAA South Carolina Women of the Year, two NAIA All-Americans, four conference players of the year and eight Upstate Athletic Hall of Fame members.

"What the Hall of Famers all had in common was their competitiveness," Calloway said. "They were all fiery players. They were the ones that were never going to quit no matter what. They wanted to win and it meant something to them."

Below is a look at all eight hall of fame members and their legacies left on the rich tradition of the Upstate volleyball program.

Michelle Graham

Michelle Graham '96 was the first volleyball player inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, getting the call in 2002. Graham, who graduated cum laude in 1996 from USC Spartanburg, had just as impressive career in academics as she did in athletics.

"You wouldn't have known it off the court because she was such a nice person, but she was a fierce competitor," Calloway, who played with Graham in 1994 and was her head coach in 1996, said. "On the court, she was a whole other person."

Graham, now Michelle Boehringer, was named South Carolina's NCAA Woman of the Year in 1996 and was also named USCS' Female Student-Athlete of the Year. She earned Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll recognition four times and was a Chancellor's List honoree twice. Named to the GTE Academic All-Region volleyball team, she was also an All-American Collegiate Scholar in 1994-95.

"We called her Blaze because she had bright red hair," Bowman said. "She could hit with either hand and could jump up in the air, see she was blocked to the right and hit with her left hand. She had a good sense of the game and was able to hit and move the ball around."

Boehringer helped lead USCS to three conference championships in volleyball and the school's first-ever NCAA Division II national ranking, peaking at No. 24 late in the 1994 season. She is still ninth on USCS' all-time volleyball list with 142 solo blocks. She was named All-Conference and Peach Belt Tournament Most Valuable Player in 1995. She also helped the Lady Rifle basketball team to two conference titles and its first ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Carla Gambrell

Carla Gambrell '91 was the second former Lady Rifle volleyball player to get inducted, when she was inducted in 2003. Gambrell, now Carla Pesce, was a dual sport student-athlete, playing volleyball from 1986-89 and women's basketball from 1986-88 and 1990-91. A standout in both sports, she made her biggest impact on the volleyball team. A four-year starter, she helped the Lady Rifles to a 135-42 record during her four years. She was named NAIA District Six Player of the Year in 1987 and earned All-America honors in 1987 and 1988. She led USCS to three appearances in the NAIA national championships.

"She was tall, 6-2, and a very good middle blocker as well as hitter," Bowman said. "She had a very good sense of how and where to block. She was also a real nice girl and a good teammate."

She had the best year of her career in 1988. She tallied a school-record 630 kills on 1,264 attempts for a 5.08 kills per game average. She also recorded 121 solo blocks, a figure that ranks as the fourth-best in school history.

Pesce's name appears 12 times on the all-time career and single-season volleyball record lists at USCS. Her 2,616 career kill attempts ranks fifth all-time, while her 1,216 kills is fourth. She also ranks third all-time with 213 solo blocks.

Heather Abrams

Heather Abrams '97 was the third player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. She played on the women's basketball team for four years and the volleyball squad in 1995 and 1997. One of the most accomplished players in the women's basketball program's history, Abrams also helped the volleyball team to a Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship in 2005.

"She was a very strong jumper," Bowman said. "She was very effective in certain types of quick attacks and she was a very intense competitor. I think her basketball together with what she did in volleyball really complemented one another. She worked really hard and she's gone on and is a really good teacher now."

In addition to her play on the courts, she also was an outstanding student, earning Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll honors all four years while also qualifying for the Dean's List at USCS throughout her academic career.

Sara Henrichs

Sara Henrichs '99 earned her induction into the Hall of Fame in 2005. Sara Henrichs was a member of the volleyball team for three seasons from 1996-98. In just three years, she set the all-time kills and attacks records at the time. Though those two marks have been surpassed, she still ranks third all-time with 1,367 kills and fourth with 2,969 attacks. She also ranks ninth all-time with 923 digs.

Durham was the model of consistency throughout her three-year career at the University, leading the team in kills, hitting percentage, and blocks all three years. She also led the team in service aces in 1996. She earned Team Most Valuable Player honors all three years as well.

While Durham made a name for herself at then-USC Spartanburg and in the Peach Belt Conference, she also earned national recognition. She ranked sixth nationally in blocks in 1997 while leading the Peach Belt with 174 total blocks. She finished the 1997 campaign ranked 14th in the country in kills. In 1998, she ranked ninth nationally in hitting percentage and 27th in kills. Durham was a three-time selection to the Peach Belt All-Conference Team.

"Sara was a fighter," Calloway said. "She wasn't that tall, but she played much taller and she had to play in the middle for us."

Durham's achievements, though, went beyond the volleyball court. She was an outstanding student and was a three-time selection to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Academic Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll. A two-time Chancellor's List honoree, she finished her college career with a 3.67 grade point average.

In addition to playing volleyball in college, she played oversees in Holland with U.S. Athletes International. In 1999, Durham was chosen as South Carolina's NCAA Woman of the Year.

Lindsay Richardson

Lindsay Bright '98, formerly Lindsay Richardson, is the fifth volleyball player to be inducted into the USC Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.

Bright was a member of the volleyball team for four seasons from 1994-97. She saw action in 138 matches and 452 games in her career. She finished her career with 1,093 kills, one of just six players in the history of the program to reach 1,000 kills, on 2,796 kill attempts. She also tallied 159 aces, 1,072 digs, and 119 total blocks. She led the team to a 96-45 record, including a 38-4 mark her freshman season when the squad finished the Peach Belt Conference with a perfect 10-0 record. She helped the team to a 30-12 conference record during her four years.

"Lindsay was more of a quiet player on the court," Calloway said. "She did her thing. She wasn't very verbal, but she had that competitiveness that made her great."

She had arguably her best season as a senior in 1997, finishing with 351 kills with a .238 hitting percentage, 32 aces, and 255 digs. Her performance on and off the court enabled her to earn the Student-Athlete of the Year Award in 1998, an honor given out to the student-athlete that best exemplifies academics, athletics, and service at the University. As a sophomore in 1995, she finished the season with 285 kills, 48 aces, and 403 digs to earn All-Conference honors.

In addition to her talent on the court, Bright was also a standout in the classroom. She was a four-time selection to the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Academic Honor Roll. She also earned Second Team GTE Academic All-District honors in 1996. She graduated from the University in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in education with a corporate fitness emphasis.

Kristin Korte

Kristin Korte Zurliene '02 was the sixth person affiliated with the volleyball program to be inducted into the USC Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

Zurliene was a standout on the volleyball team from 1998-2001. By the time she left the program, she held the all-time records for kills, kill attempts, aces, and digs. She continues to top the all-time digs list with 1,688 and ranks second all-time with 1,407 kills, 3,579 kill attempts, and 196 aces.

Zurliene was the driving force on the then-Rifles volleyball team that made its first NCAA Tournament berth in 2000. She led the team with 423 kills, 55 aces, and 455 digs en route to a 24-11 record. In 2001, she ranked second on the team with 371 kills and led the squad with 56 aces and 440 digs en route to a 25-8 record, a second-place finish in the Peach Belt Conference, and a second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

"Kristin was an all-around player," Calloway said. "She had a steadiness and she was very consistent game-in and game-out. We knew what we were going to get every match with her."

Zurliene was a highly decorated student-athlete. She was named the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in 1998 and earned All-Conference honors in 2000 and 2001. Zurliene led the volleyball team to an 87-49 record in her four years in the program.

Kim Pitman

Kim Pitman '01 was the seventh in the tradition of volleyball players earning Hall of Fame honors when she was inducted in 2001.

Pitman, a JuCo transfer, was a standout player on the volleyball team for two seasons from 2000-01. She helped lead USC Spartanburg to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament and 49 wins. She was a two-time All-Conference selection and was named the 2001 Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year. She also earned Peach Belt Conference All-Tournament honors in 2001.

Pitman had an outstanding year as a junior, finishing the season with 341 kills and 123 total blocks as a middle hitter. A dominant player in the middle, she led the team to a 24-11 record and the program's first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. As a senior, she was even more dominant. She finished the season with 535 kills with a .408 hitting percentage, 147 total blocks and 36 aces. She led the team to a 25-8 record, a second-place finish in the Peach Belt Conference and was named the league Player of the Year.

"Kim was a more verbal leader," Calloway said. "She was a positive motivator. Those teams she played on were so good and so fun to coach because they had a maturity about them."

Her career numbers are lofty despite the fact that she played just two seasons at the University. She recorded 876 kills, 42 aces and 270 total blocks. She tops the all-time career record for hitting percentage, converting on 38 percent of her kill attempts. She also ranks among the all-time leaders in nine other statistical categories, including fourth in kills per match and points per game, eighth in blocks per game and 10th in both total blocks and points.

Joe Bowman

Dr. Joe Bowman was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in the class of 1999, one of the first three inductees. In many ways, no one has had more of an impact on the USC Upstate athletic program than Bowman, who has been associated with the athletic department for 39 of the University's 41 years. He has served as director of athletics, men's basketball coach, bowling coach and golf coach, among other various duties at the school.

His biggest impact on a program, though, may be his impact on the volleyball program. He began coaching the team in 1978 and stayed for 10 years at the helm, compiling 339 wins and three 40-win seasons. Bowman took over the volleyball program at a time when it was one of two women's sports at USC Spartanburg along with women's basketball.

"Volleyball is really a neat sport," Bowman said. "It's a strong team sport. You could have the greatest player in the world and without the other five, she wouldn't be able to win by herself. It's so interdependent on the workings of everyone."

Bowman stepped down in 1987 to focus on teaching, but when an emergency replacement was needed in 1995, he retook the helm and won a Peach Belt Conference Championship. In 2005, he came back to the program, serving as an assistant coach to Calloway. In all, he has been a part of 427 of the program's 823 wins, has helped the team to two league titles and one trip to the NAIA Nationals.

"He's been here so long and he has so many ties to the school that he is invaluable," Calloway said. "He cares about the sport and he truly wants what's best for the program."