SHARI MATTHEWS delivering one of her famous spikes. (FP)

by Kirk Corbin

In the classroom at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), national volleyball player Shari Matthews may be studying business administration, but on the courts she might well be majoring in history, because all she has been doing is rewriting it.

The outside hitter, in her junior year, was recently selected as the 2006 NCAA Division II Daktronics Women's Volleyball Player-Of-The-Year, which is decided by votes from the division's sports information directors.

Matthews, a product of Springer Memorial School, led the nation with an average of 6.37 kills and 0.92 service aces per game, and broke the NCAA Division II record for kills in a season with 974.

In addition to slamming 140 aces into the oppositions' courts, Matthews, who is the school's first ever volleyball All-American, finished the season with 513 digs (3.35 per game), and 95 blocks (0.62 per game).

The two-time Caribbean MVP's record-breaking season also includes awards for the 2006 Central Inter-collegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Player-of-the-Year, and being named to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region All-Tournament Team after recording a match-high 33 kills, 12 digs and seven blocks in her team's 3-1 loss to eventual regional champions Lock Haven University.

Matthews guided her team to their third straight CIAA Championship, their third consecutive trip to the NCAA regional playoffs and the most wins in school history (32).

The five-ft, seven-inch tall explosive hitter, who spent one year at a junior college before moving to NCCU, also has several single-season records in just her first year playing for the Eagles. She has the most kills in a match (42), services aces in a single season (140), kills in a season (974), and kills per game (6.74).