2023 Women's Volleyball Roster
Sarah Kushner
- Position:
- Libero
- Height:
- 5-10
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- High School:
- Naperville North
- Hometown:
- Naperville, Ill.
- Prev School:
- Illinois State
Awards and Honors (at Marquette)
2023-24
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (10/23/23)
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (10/9/23, 10/30/23)
2023 (GS): Posted three assists and 15 digs against No. 24 Western Kentucky (Aug. 25) in the first match of the year ... Notched 15 digs and two service aces against then-No. 25 Purdue (Sept. 1) ... Recorded 22 digs and four assists in sweep at Milwaukee (Sept. 14) ... Recorded 16 digs, two service aces, three assists and her first kill of the season against then-No. 15 Creighton (Oct. 6) in a home sweep ... Named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 9 for her play in sweeps of DePaul (Oct. 4) and No. 15 Creighton (Oct. 6) ... Named on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll again on Oct. 28 against UConn with 20 digs and one service ace ... Recorded 14 digs and six assists in the four-set win at Villanova (Nov. 11).
Awards and Honors (at Illinois State):
2021-22
All-MVC First Team
MVC Scholar-Athletie First Team
CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team
Redbird Classic All-Tournament
2020-21
All-MVC Second Team
MVC Player of the Week (2/16/21, 3/30/21)
2019-20
MVC All-Tournament Team
Buckeye Invitational All-Tournament
2022 (Sr. - at ISU): Appeared in 24 matches, covering 87 sets ... missed five matches due to injury and limited in the final seven matches ... second on the team with 191 kills, posting a season-high 19 with a .462 hitting percentage against Queens on 9/9/22 ... tallied 21 service aces, including four against Dayton on 8/27/22 ... became the seventh player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills (9/2/22 vs Green Bay) and 1,000 career digs (9/24/22 at Indiana State) ... third on the team with 208 digs ... tallied six double-doubles ... named to the Beale Street Challenge All-Tournament Team and Redbird Classic All-Tournament Team ... named CSC Academic All-District ... named MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team.
2021 (Jr. - at ISU): Appeared in all 33 matches, covering all 126 sets the Redbirds played in the 2021 season … earned a spot on the All-MVC First Team for the first time in her career … a 2021 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team selection … named a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team … selected to the Redbird Classic All-Tournament Team after posting 38 kills and 31 digs over three matches for ISU … finished the year with a conference-leading 19 double-doubles … recorded 366 kills this season for the second most on the team … posted 22 double-digit kill efforts in ISU’s 33 matches, including a month-long 10-game stretch with 10+ kills from Sept. 18 to Oct. 18 … set a five-set career best for kills with 19 on two separate occasions this season, first at Wright State (9/11) and then against Missouri State (10/1) … finished the year with 359 digs for the second most on the team and the 15th most ever by an ISU junior … matched her career best of 20 digs against Valparaiso (10/16) … led ISU with 22 block solos, which is the 10th most ever by a Redbird junior … totaled 68 blocks on the year, registering a career-best six blocks at Bradley (10/18) … led Illinois State with 29 service aces, notching a season high of three on three separate occasions … reached 1,000 career points at Valparaiso (11/12) … one of four Redbirds to post 15+ kills in the MVC Championship match against Loyola Chicago (11/27) … appeared in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 6 Purdue (12/2).
2020-21 (So. - at ISU (Free COVID Year)): Played in all 22 matches for the Redbirds, covering 80 sets, as a six-rotation player … landed a spot on the All-MVC Second Team … two-time MVC Player of the Week … earned a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention squad … led the Valley and the team in service aces per set (0.43), delivering at least one ace in all but five matches … finished the year with a team-high 34 aces, dropping a season-high five against Indiana State (4/1) in the opening round of the Valley tournament … turned in 249 kills to average 3.11 kills per set … posted 10 double-doubles, including a 14 kill-20 dig performance against Bradley (4/2) … set career-highs in kills, digs, assists and blocks her sophomore season … dished out 20 assists on the year with a season-high four against Evansville (3/21) … scooped 235 digs with a pair of 20-dig performances in wins over No. 20 Marquette (1/23) and Bradley (4/2) … turned in 40 blocks with a pair of career-high four stuffs against Drake (2/15) and Missouri State (3/15) … Fall 2020 season moved to spring 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2019 (Fr. - at ISU): Appeared in all 34 matches, covering 132 sets as a true freshman … Named to the MVC All-Tournament Team … finished third on the team with 251 kills, averaging 1.90 kills per set … tallied the third-most digs (356) and fifth most by a freshman, while leading the team in service aces with 37 – the third most by a freshman in program history … registered 11 double-digit kill performances, turning in a season-high 16 kills in the season opener at North Texas (8/30) … collected a season-high 16 digs on three occasions … tallied a season-high four assists twice, while adding three blocks on four occasions … delivered multiple services aces in eight matches, including a season-high four in a win over Drake (11/9).
Naperville North HS: Four-year starter for Naperville North High School's volleyball program, helping her team boast a winning record in all four of her seasons, including back-to-back 30-win seasons in 2017 and 2018 … Three-time regional champion, while being named MVP her junior and senior seasons … Four-time all-conference performer, and three-time all-area honoree … Named the DVC Player of the Year in 2018 … Won an AAU National Championship, while earning All-America status.
Personal: Daughter of Dave and Colleen Kushner … Born March 19 in Naperville, Illinois … Has one brother (David) and two sisters (Ashley and Sydney) … Has several relatives that played sports in college including her father, who played basketball at George Williams College … Graduated from Illinois State University in May 2023 ... Sixth member of her family to play volleyball at the Division I collegiate level.
