University of Minnesota Athletics
Katrien DeDecker - M Club Hall of Fame
Katrien DeDecker
Volleyball, 1993-96
HOF Class of 2005
Katrien DeDecker was named Big Ten Newcomer of the Year when she broke onto the collegiate volleyball scene in 1993. She became one of only five Golden Gophers in school history to claim first team All-America honors, in 1996, and one of six Minnesota players named first team All-Big Ten in three different seasons (1993, 1995, 1996).
To cap it off, in 1997 she received the Big Ten Medal of Honor, given for outstanding academic and athletic proficiency.
DeDecker was named the team’s MVP in both her junior and senior seasons. She was first on Minnesota’s career attempts list with 5,708, second on the Big Ten list. She was second on the Minnesota career kills list with 2,300, which was third on the Big Ten list. In 1996, she tallied the most kills in a single season by a Minnesota player, 738; that same year she tallied the second-most attempts in a single-season, 1,743.
DeDecker was also a member of the Belgium National Team from 1990 to 1999, when she led her team to a Spring Cup Championship, one of Europe’s most prestigious volleyball tournaments.