Deitre Collins named to volleyball hall of fame
POSTED: Thursday, October 02, 2008
Deitre Collins-Parker, who led Hawaii to two national championships in volleyball and was honored as the most outstanding women's college athlete in the nation in 1983, has been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Collins-Parker led UH to a 138-15 record, guiding the school to the first-ever back-to-back volleyball national championships in 1982 and 1983 In addition to earning three AVCA All-America honors, Collins-Parker won the Broderick Cup Award, signifying the nation’s top female collegiate athlete, the first volleyball player to ever receive that distinction. Collins-Parker went on to compete at the national level, and played in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Collins-Parker is now in her 15th year of coaching, and is currently the head women’s volleyball coach at Cornell University. After receiving a degree in communications from UH, Collins-Parker’s coaching career began at the University of Houston as women’s volleyball assistant coach, and then continued at several other top volleyball programs around the country. “(Collins-Parker) is an excellent ambassador for the sport of volleyball as she is known for her playing achievements while being very sincere and modest,” said Sarah Bernson, assistant volleyball coach at Cornell, in her nomination of Collins-Parker. “Even though her playing days ended in 1992, Deitre is continually being recognized for her playing ability and success.” She is joined in this year's hall of fame class by coaches Brian Gimmillaro of Long Beach State and Don Shaw of Stanford.