Vickie Robinson
Volleyball
1999-2000
Two first-team all-conference awards to go along with a second-team honor. A total of 73 wins, one league championship and a bunch of school records. Furthermore, she holds a 2.7 grade-point average as an exercise science major. Those are the reasons why volleyball standout Vickie Robinson was a pretty easy choice to be the 2000 Vindicator Female Student Athlete of the Year.
Robinson concluded a marvelous four-year career with the Penguin volleyball program, establishing herself as one of the top volleyball players in school history, plus the Mid-Continent Conference.
In guiding the Penguins to a share of the league title and a school record 27 wins, Robinson smashed her way into the record books, amassing a school-record 1,408 kills and a respectable .277 hitting percentage. Adding to her accomplishments, Robinson is also the all time block assists leader with 295 and second in total digs with 1193 and total blocks with 405.
In earning first-team All Mid-Con honors as a senior, Robinson led the team with 429 kills and a remarkable .343 honors hitting percentage. Her 429 kills are the third highest total in school history. Furthermore, she is also only the fourth player to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in the same season.
Named to the Mid-Continent Conference All-Tournament Team, Robinson guided the Penguins to within one match of the NCAA Tournament as the Penguins fell to national power Oral Roberts on their home floor. In getting the Penguins to the championship game, Robinson smashed 15 kills, hit .364 and had 19 digs in a 3-1 win over UMKC.
The Penguins got off to a great start, winning five of their first six matches, including winning the Bucknell Tournament. In a loss early in the season to St. Peter's it was easy to tell that Robinson was on her way to an MVP season. Robinson pounded out 20 kills and was credited with 20 kills. In the school's ninth straight win, Robinson blasted 22 kills in a win over Valparaiso. She went on to record 14 double doubles and blast 10 or more kills 25 times throughout the year. She later tied a career high with 24 kills in a win over Duquesne in November.
After losing to Oral Roberts late in September, the Penguins pulled off something that rarely occurs in college athletics and has never happened in 25 seasons of volleyball at YSU. The Penguins shed the loss to the Golden Eagles and went on a 20-match winning steak, losing only nine games out of 69 during that span. YSU rampaged through the Mid Continent Conference portion of its schedule and found itself in a position to more into a first place tie with undefeated Oral Roberts. The Penguins just had to beat the Golden Eagles. And that is exactly what they did. After 29 straight league victories, Oral Roberts had succumbed to the Penguins in Beeghly Center, 3-1.
In the school's 19th straight win, Robinson was instrumental in leading the Penguins to a 3-0 win over Robert Morris. Pretty much taking over the match, Robinson recorded 17 kills and 15 gigs, but her .500 hitting percentage for the match was what cemented her for MVP honors, which happened after that season.
Robinson possesses championship qualities off the court, volunteering with numerous club volleyball programs and donating her time to many other charitable events. It is those features as well as the aforementioned athletic awards that will also make Robinson as easy choice to succeed in life.
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