Volleyball
Cristina Churchill left her mark on Carleton volleyball as a player and returned as a coach. An All-Region performer during her senior season, she is the only three-time All-MIAC selection in program history and still holds eight team records 25 years after graduating.
Churchill was an impressive all-around performer everywhere on the court and ranks as the Knights’ all-time leader in career kills, digs, and service aces. One of only three players in program history to accumulate at least 1,000 career kills, Churchill owns the top spot on the all-time list by a wide margin with 1,530 total kills. She accumulated a team-record 631 kills during her senior campaign and owns three of the program’s top-10 single-season totals in the category. She posted three of the top-10 single-match kill totals, including 28 kills against St. Catherine on Oct. 24, 1988.
Not simply an offensive presence, Churchill posted two of the top-three single-season dig totals, including a program-best 740 digs in 1988. While there are 11 players in team annals with more than 1,000 career digs, she easily leads that group after totaling 2,202 career digs.
Additionally, there are only nine players in program history with at least 100 career service aces, and Churchill again owns the top spot by a wide margin with 270 aces. Not surprisingly, she owns three of the program’s top-10 single-season totals in this statistic as well.
During her rookie season in 1985, she was a member of Carleton’s first volleyball squad to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. When her playing career concluded, Churchill was second in team history with 62 career solo blocks and still ranks in the team’s top 10.
Churchill spent two seasons immediately after graduation as an assistant coach for the Knights, then returned as head coach for the 1994 and 1995 campaigns.