Senior outside hitter Suzanne Peters etched her name into the DePauw volleyball record book by becoming only the 12th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career kills mark. This milestone occurred in the first win of the season, a 3-0 (25-18) (25-11) (25-15), victory over University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Sept. 3.
DePauw’s head coach, Deb Zellers, is one of the 12 players herself that have reached that all so important milestone.
“It’s so exciting to be up there with my coach [Deb Zellers] and a couple of older girls I’ve played with over the years,” Peters said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”
Peters has plenty of room to add to her achievement. So far, through the first eight contests of the season, Peters has already managed 143 kills. Her team high of 150.5 points, solidifies her as not only one of the top players on the team, but the conference itself.
“It has been very motivating to have achieved this early in the season because I can constantly strive to move higher,” Peters said.
Since arriving at DePauw, Peters has played in every single match over the course of her four year career. Last season, she was an All-NCAC First Team selection, while being named an Honorable Mention all-America as well.
However, her favorite memories are not only on the court, but off.
“Singing throwbacks in the back of the team bus together to a bluetooth speaker after a long, four-game weekend are some of my favorite memories,” Peters said. “It made me realize how special and fleeting a student-athletes time here really is. The time we spend off of the court is truly full of my favorite moments.”
Despite starting off the year on a 2-6 note, Peters expects the comradery to continue to grow as the season continues.
“I expect us to work hard and get better every single day. We value our time together and want to make the most of it,” Peters said. “We expect to beat some good teams and come out of this season knowing we beat some good teams.”
Peters is a native of Fort Wayne and will receive a degree in Kinesiology this spring.