ST. PAUL, MINN. – Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn. / Jefferson) has had quite a career with the St. Catherine University volleyball team, already earning multiple accolades, including All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) honors in 2015. After this weekend, Herd can now add school record holder to her list of awards and titles. Herd broke the school record for career digs and helped St. Kate’s go 2-2 over the week with multiple 20+ dig showings. For her performances, Herd has been named Wildcat Athlete of the Week.
Herd’s outstanding week started in the Wildcats Wednesday match against Carleton. Though St. Kate’s lost 3-2 (18-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 8-15), Herd was phenomenal in the back row, racking up 33 digs and one ace in the five setter. She followed that up with a 27 dig performance in the Wildcats 3-1 (13-25, 20-25, 25-12, 25-15) loss to Bethel, almost single-handedly winning the third set. Herd went on an 11-point serving run with three aces at the end of the set, clinching St. Kate’s 25-12 third set victory.
After combining for 60 digs versus MIAC opponents, Herd needed just 37 in two matches to break Nicole Neumann’s school record for career digs. With two matches on Saturday, the libero looked poised to not only break the long standing record, but crush it in the process. In the first match of the day, Herd had 17 digs and two aces in a 3-0 (25-5-, 25-23, 25-15) win over Crown.
While her match against Crown was impressive, Herd was even better against UW-River Falls. She racked up 34 digs in the four set 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-15, 28-26) St. Kate’s victory, 18 of which came in the decisive fourth set. Herd also broke Neumann's nine-year record for career digs (2007) with her second dig of the fourth and now has 2021 total digs in her career with the Wildcats.
Overall, Herd had 111 digs and averaged 6.96 digs/set and 27.75 digs/match over the week. Her season total of 491 digs leads the MIAC as does her 6.46 digs/set average. Statistically, Herd is also one of the top liberos in the nation. Before the weekend’s matches, she was third in the country in both digs and digs/set.
