Michelle Lynch Season 2004

Honors and Awards

• 2004 First-Team Academic All-Big 12

• 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-America Nominee

• 2004 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Spring)
• 2003 First Team Academic All-Big 12
• 2003 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Spring and Fall)
• 2002 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Spring and Fall)

2001 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Spring and Fall)

Career Wrapup<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Michelle Lynch was a three-year letterwinner who was sidelined by a back injury in May of 2005. Lynch played 84 matches during her three-year Husker career, totaling 973 assists, 119 digs and 93 services aces, while helping NU to three Big 12 titles in her four years on campus. In 2004, she was the Huskers’ reserve setter and serving specialist, helping the Huskers to a 30-2 record, a Big 12 title and an appearance in the NCAA Regional Finals. She ranked seventh in the Big 12 in aces per game (.34 SA/gm), including a career-high six aces in NU’s Big 12-clinching win at <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Missouri. She saw her most extensive time in 2003, splitting the starting role with Dani Busboom in the Huskers’ 6-2 offense. Lynch led NU with 843 assists (7.21 per game) as she started all 33 matches in helping NU to the regional semifinals. She had at least 30 assists on eight occasions, including a career-high 40 in a match against Georgia Tech. Lynch, who is scheduled to graduate in May of 2006, also excelled in the classroom, where she was a two-time academic All-Big 12 performer and eight-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

2004:
Junior who served as Nebraska’s backup setter and serving specialist  Averaged 1.64 assists per game, as she has appeared in 26 matches...usually comes in to serve when the Huskers go to a 6-2 offense...leads Nebraska with 25 aces, as she averagesd an ace every 10 serves...her 0.34 service aces/gm ranks eighth in the Big 12...enjoyed her best serving performance at No. 25 Missouri on Nov. 17 with a career-high six aces, one off the school record, in a three-game sweep that clinched a share of the Big 12 title...also had four assists and three digs, as she keyed decisive runs in all three games...came off the bench to record consecutive aces in the second game against Western Michigan on Sept. 6...also had four assists in a sweep of the Broncos...had four aces and three digs in a win over Ball State on Sept. 11...recorded a season-high six assists and a service ace against Maryland on Sept. 12...had five assists in two games at Texas Tech on Sept. 18...had four assists and a pair of digs in the win at No. 25 Colorado on Sept. 22...delivered consecutive service aces in the second game against No. 24 Kansas on Sept. 29...had four assists in wins against Oklahoma and Creighton...saw her most extensive action of the year against IowaState on Oct. 16, setting season highs in both assists (13) and digs (9) in a sweep of the Cyclones...did not have any aces against Texas, but spurred several Husker spurts with her serving in the comeback against the No. 10 Longhorns...had seven assists and an ace in the win at Iowa State on Oct. 30...turned in one of her best serving efforts of the year against No. 9 Colorado State, recording three aces in a four-point span, as she led Nebraska’s game one comeback after trailing 18-11...recorded five assists and six digs and her first block of the year at Oklahoma on Nov. 20...had two aces and five assists in the sweep of No. 11 Texas on Nov. 24...saw extensive action in NU’s opening round win over Iona, recording 11 assists while adding two services aces...keyed a 9-0 run with her serving in game two, as NU took an 18-3 lead and cruised to the win

2003: Sophomore Season
Lynch played in all of Nebraska's 117 games, sharing the setting duties with Dani Busboom in the Huskers' 6-2 offense. Lynch averaged 7.21 assists per game and helped lead the Huskers to a .249 hitting percentage, which ranked fourth in the conference. Lynch had a career-high 40 assists against Georgia Tech Sept. 14. She produced at least 30 assists eight times.

A left-handed jump-server, Lynch ranked second in the Big 12 with 0.47 service aces per game against league teams. She led Nebraska with 47 service aces on the year and was just two aces shy of breaking into the NU all-time top 10 chart, a feat that has not been accomplished since Kelly Aspegren in 1993. Lynch had five aces at Texas Sept. 20, when Nebraska tied a 13-year-old school record with 16 aces in a three-game match.

2002: Freshman Season
Lynch saw time at setter behind All-American Greichaly Cepero, but found a way onto the court with her serve, playing in 60 games as a serving specialist. Lynch was Nebraska’s most effective server in the NCAA Tournament. She posted two aces against Tennessee-Martin Dec. 6, two against Arizona State Dec. 7, and three against Miami Dec. 13 in the regional semifinal. She finished the season with 21 service aces and 20 digs. Lynch’s 0.35 service aces-per-game average tied for seventh in the Big 12 Conference.Lynch emerged as one of the best servers on the team in September. She made her collegiate debut against No. 1 USC Sept. 2 and was the Huskers’ top threat at the service line with two aces in the loss to the eventual national champions

Lynch went on to notch a service ace in six of her next nine matches and tallied two each against Pepperdine, Alabama and Michigan. However, during the last week of September, Lynch broke the third metatarsal in her right hand while diving for a dig off a ball hit by Amber Holmquist. Lynch underwent surgery and was sidelined until the Texas Tech match Nov. 2. She dressed for the Colorado match Oct. 30, but did not play.

Before the injury, Lynch saw action in 28 games and nine matches, averaging a then-team best 0.36 service aces per game.

High School
A Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 prep star, Lynch became Cook’s first nationally ranked recruit at Nebraska, when she committed to the Huskers in late August of 2000. Lynch, who was listed as one of the top-five prep setters in the nation by volleyball recruiting analyst Bill Feldman, helped Jacksonville High School to tournament titles at the Jacksonville Invitational and the GlenBrook North Discover Tournament in 2000, earning all-tournament honors in both events. Lynch led her team to the Illinois Class 2A IHSA Sweet 16 in 2000. A two-time first-team all-state selection by both the Chicago Tribune and the Champaign News Gazette, Lynch posted a team-best 772 assists, 142 kills, a .484 hitting percentage, 94 service aces, 126 total blocks and 86 digs. Lynch was also named the Springfield State Journal Register Central State 8 Volleyball Player of the Year.

As a junior, Lynch was one of just five underclassmen in the country to be named one of the 31 Volleyball Magazine honorable-mention All-Americans in 1999, after leading Jacksonville to the Class 2A IHSA Sweet 16.

Lynch also competed for the Illini Elite volleyball club under Coach Andy Erins. The squad finished 10th in the 18 Open division at the USVBA Mideast Qualifier in July of 2000.

Lynch has also achieved impressive feats off the court. She carried a 4.167 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale into her senior year at Jacksonville High School. Lynch is a three-time academic all-conference selection and a member of the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Lynch also served as the Student Alliance Vice President.