Licking native and former Missouri State University-West Plains volleyball coach Trish Kissiar-Knight is one of three people that will be inducted this month into the Grizzly Hall of Fame.
Former volleyball player Roselidah Obunaga and basketball player Mike Wallace will be enshrined alongside Knight. The induction will be Tuesday, April 16, at the annual Grizzly sports banquet.
Tickets for the event are available by calling Herb Dean at 417-255-7255.
Knight, who in December was named the new head volleyball coach at Texas Tech, compiled an impressive 645-156-3 record during her 15-year tenure with the Grizzlies. She led her squad to 11 NJCAA national tournament appearances and was named regional coach of the year 11 times, most recently in November 2008. Knight was twice named national coach of the year and has coached 23 NJCAA All-Americans.
Knight previously coached at the high school level, leading West Plains to four consecutive state championships. She played four years at Southwest Missouri State University and was inducted into the SMSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Last week, it was announced Knight’s volleyball program at MSU-West Plains was named one of the 2008-2009 Fall Academic Teams of the Year by the National Junior College Athletic Association. It’s the fifth time Knight’s program has received the honor.
The Lady Grizzlies were among 58 NJCAA volleyball teams to receive the annual honor. The team also received the award in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.
The award is given to NJCAA fall sports teams for achieving academic excellence by maintaining a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The compiled grade point average for the team was 3.06.
