Steph Judkins of Cabrini’s women’s volleyball team achieved a huge milestone in the Cavaliers’ victory over Washington & Jefferson on Aug. 31.
The junior outside hitter recorded the 1,000th kill of her career in the third set of a 3-0 win over the Presidents at Nerney Field House. Judkins became just the 6th player in school history to reach 1,000 kills in a career.
Reaching the 1,000-kill mark had been a goal for Judkins for a while. It was a difficult journey for her to become a member of the 1,000-kill club. She credited her teammates for their help in reaching the milestone and also cited the hard work she put in as what allowed her to get to where she wanted to be.
“It’s a team sport, so I couldn’t have done it without [my teammates]. Having done it in three years was hard, but it was worth it in the end,” Judkins said.
Judkins’s Cavalier teammates were thrilled to see her get her 1,000th kill. They see Judkins as a team leader and someone who works hard day in and day out. It was a big deal for the team to see their leader reach this kind of milestone and set this kind of example for them.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment for her. I know that was one of her goals that she had, and it’s great to see her accomplish that. I know I have goals, too, so I’m supporting her. I hope she gets to 2,000,” sophomore Gina Custer said.
Cabrini head coach Eric Schaefer spoke about how he has seen tremendous growth from Judkins throughout the years. He has known her for about six years between club volleyball and college volleyball. He talked about how special it was to see her put in the work and effort in order to accomplish something so big.
“She works her tail off to get to where she is,” Schaefer said. “Her freshman year she realized that she could have a lot of success. It just made her be even more of a gym rat and drive her even more to get to that [1,000th kill].”
With nearly two full seasons of games to play, Judkins has put herself in a great position to reach Danielle Carrozza’s school record of 1,143 kills. With more goals, both team and individual, to be accomplished, there is little doubt that number 1,000 will not be the last big milestone in Judkins’s Cavalier career.
