Vanessa Wouters Named to Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
July 8, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Varsity “O” Association announced that former Ohio State women’s volleyball student-athlete Vanessa Wouters would be one of 12 individuals that will be inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame the weekend of September 10-11. The class will be officially inducted in two separate ceremonies Friday night and introduced to the public at halftime of the Marshall-Ohio State football game Saturday in Ohio Stadium. A total of 59 women have been inducted since 1993 and 210 men have been honored since 1977.
Named the Big Ten Player of the Year as a junior, the Westmalle, Belgium, native played two years for Ohio State after beginning her collegiate career at Southwest Missouri State. At Ohio State, she was a two-time All-Big Ten selection, establishing several records during her career at OSU.
She was the Ohio State career leader in kills per game at 5.75 (now ranking second) and is seventh in career kills (1,409) and 10th in attack percentage (.266).
As a senior, Wouters was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection and was twice named the Big Ten Player of the Week. She was honored as an academic all-Big Ten student-athlete. Wouters was the Big Ten champion in service aces (.51 per game) and finished second in kills per game (5.17). The Buckeyes finished third in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA East Regional semifinals before losing to NCAA runner-up Penn State. Wouters was selected as the Ohio State Female Athlete of the Year.
An American Volleyball Coaches Association first team All-American in her junior season, Wouters was the Big Ten Player of the Year. She was twice selected as the AVCA National Player of the Week and was the Big Ten Player of the Week four times. The Big Ten record for kills fell with her 45-kill performance at Iowa. Wouters finished the season as the NCAA Statistics Champion in kills per game with a 6.43 per game average and was the Big Ten champion in kills per game with a 7.41 average. Her 765 kills for the season set Ohio State and Big Ten records. Wouters recorded double-figure kills in all 33-matches with eight matches of 31 or more kills.
The 2004 class includes: Maria Giusti-Lugo (Synchronized Swimming); Jocelyn Jay (Swimming); Averrill Roberts (Basketball); Vanessa Wouters (Volleyball); Earle Bruce (Coaching); Vlade Janakievski (Football); Steve Myers (Football); Kevin Randleman (Wrestling); Arnie Risen (Basketball); Paul Sarringhaus (Football); Ty Tucker (Tennis); and Blaine Wilson (Gymnastics). Risen and Sarringhaus are being inducted in the “Pioneer” category.
