Karen Fruit
Karen Fruit

Player Profile
Class:
Graduated

Hometown:
Viola, Wis.

High School:
Richland Center

Height:
5-10

Position:
Outside Hitter

2003: All-Horizon League ... Horizon League All-Tournament Team ... CoSIDA Academic All-Region ... Horizon League All-Academic team ... missed the season-opener Aug. 29 due to a family wedding ... debuted for the season Aug. 30, tallying 22 kills at St. Louis ... added 10 kills and 14 digs later in the day against Purdue ... named to the all-tournament team at the Billiken Invitational ...collected 15 kills and six digs vs. Niagara Sept. 5 ... recorded 18 more kills later that same day vs. LaSalle ... tallied 15 kills and a career-high 19 digs at Toledo Sept. 6 ... named to the all-tournament team at the Clarion Westgate Rocket Classic ... collected 20 kills and 19 digs Sept. 9 at DePaul ... tallied 20 more kills Sept. 12 vs. Illinois State ... had 15 kills and 13 digs vs. Eastern Illinois Sept. 13 ... later that day tallied 22 kills and 24 digs vs. Illinois State ... collected 10 kills and 18 digs in back-to-back matches against Charlotte and Colorado State ... tallied 18 kills and 21 digs vs. Marquette Sept. 24 ... added 17 kills against Cleveland State Sept. 26 ... totaled a career-high 23 kills vs. Youngstown State Sept. 27 ... had 12 kills, 10 digs and six blocks vs. UWGB Oct. 3 ... tallied 16 kills and 18 digs at UIC Oct. 10 ... collected 20 kills and 14 digs the next day at Loyola ... totaled 13 kills and 17 digs vs. Wright State Oct. 17 ... had 13 kills and 19 digs the next day vs. Butler ... recorded 12 kills and 14 digs at Youngstown State Oct. 24 ... added 17 kills and 16 digs the next day at Cleveland State ... had 24 kills and 22 digs at UWGB Oct. 31 ... named the Horizon League Player of the Week for her efforts ... collected a career-high 26 kills to go with 23 digs Nov. 7 vs. Loyola ... added 14 kills and seven digs the next day vs. UIC ... recorded 12 kills and 17 digs Nov. 14 at Butler ... tallied 20 kills and 23 digs the next day at Wright State ... collected 14 kills, 22 digs and seven blocks Nov. 22 against Butler in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament ... led UWM with 25 kills and 16 digs in the tournament title match against UW-Green Bay.



2002: Started all 34 matches, splitting time between the outside hitter and middle blocker positions ... was in double figures in kills 16 times and double figures in digs 14 times ... recorded 18 kills and nine digs against Cal Poly Aug. 31 ... had 18 kills and 10 digs versus Oregon Sept. 13 ... collected 14 kills and 16 digs against UNLV Sept. 13 ... had 11 kills later that day against DePaul ... established a career-high with 20 kills at Western Michigan Sept. 20 ... also added 13 digs and four blocks in that match ... tied that career-high the next day by recording 20 kills against Syracuse ... hit .436 and added 16 digs in that win over the Orangewomen ... tallied 15 kills and 12 digs at Butler Sept. 28 ... had 13 kills in a win over Youngstown State Oct. 5 ... recorded 16 kills in a five-game win over UW-Green Bay Oct. 9 ... playing her first match in the middle, Fruit collected 13 kills and seven blocks in a win over Loyola Oct. 18 ... she also hit .417 in that match...hit .300 with 14 kills against nationally-ranked Northern Iowa Oct. 22 ... had eight kills and 12 digs against Wright State Oct. 26 ... recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs in a win over Cleveland State Nov. 1 ... tallied 12 kills, 14 digs and eight blocks in a four-game win over UIC Nov. 15 ... had 13 kills, 17 digs and seven blocks the next night against Loyola ... recorded 12 kills, 13 digs and seven blocks in the Horizon League semifinals against Wright State Nov. 23 ... tallied 13 kills, 17 digs and six blocks against Loyola in the Horizon League Championship Nov. 24.

2001: Appeared in 16 matches and recorded 61 digs as a true freshman for the Panthers ... made her collegiate debut Sept. 1 against Louisville ... recorded her first collegiate kill Sept. 8 against Drake ... broke through with nine kills and eight digs in a win over Illinois-Chicago Sept. 21 ... added seven more kills against Loyola Sept. 22, digging out 13 as well.



Richland Center: Led the Hornets to a number of volleyball titles and earned numerous personal accolades ... was named most valuable player of the Southwest Wisconsin Athletic League, all-area by the Wisconsin State Journal and All-SWAL both her junior and her senior years, leading the Hornets to league championships in the process ... was also named All-SWAL her sophomore year ... earned honorable mention all-state recognition after her junior year and third team all-state honors after her senior year ... helped the Hornets to the WIAA State Semifinals in 1999 while leading RCHS to the Sectional Finals in 2000 ... also achieved great success in basketball, again earning two SWAL MVP awards in both her junior and senior years, helping the Hornets to league titles in both her junior and senior years, and earning all-state recognition in both her junior and senior years (fourth team in 2001, honorable mention in 2000)...qualified for the state all-star games in both volleyball and basketball her senior year ... academic accolades included WIAA Scholar Athlete status, a spot on the honor roll all four years, and membership in the National Honor Society...was an active member of the Future Business Leaders of America.



Personal: Daughter of Norman and Sandra ... enjoys art and playing the piano in her free time.



Career Highs
Karen Fruit
CategoryThree GamesFour GamesFive Games
Kills 22 -- at St. Louis, 8/30/2003* 23 -- Youngstown State, 9/27/2003 26 -- Loyola Chicago, 11/7/2003
Digs 19 -- Butler, 10/18/2003 23 -- at Wright State, 11/15/2003 24 -- Sacramento State, 9/13/2003**
Total Blocks 7 -- IPFW, 11/9/2002 8 -- UIC, 11/15/2002 7 -- Twice, neither in 2003
Service Aces 3 -- Three times, twice in 2003 4 -- Youngstown State, 10/4/2002 4 -- Twice, once in 2003
Assists 4 -- Cleveland State, 10/5/2002 4 -- Four times, once in 2003 7 -- at UW-Green Bay, 10/9/2002

* - 2003 Billiken Invitational; St. Louis, Mo.
** - 2003 Powerade Panther Invitational; Klotsche Center



Career Statistics
Karen Fruit
Season GP/MP Attack Set Serve Defense Blocks
K KPG E TA Pct. A APG Aces Digs DPG BS BA Tot
2003 114/29 481 4.22 174 1,291 .238 43 0.38 37 436 3.82 6 58 64
2002 121/34 355 2.93 169 969 .192 65 0.54 48 300 2.48 9 88 97
2001 38/16 22 0.58 14 63 .127 6 0.16 1 61 1.61 0 7 7
Totals 273/79 858 3.14 357 2,323 .216 114 0.42 86 797 2.91 15 153 168