Former Bulldog Volleyball Standout Ilona Fekete Featured on Big South's 25th Anniversary

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? As part of the Big South Conference's 25^th Anniversary celebration in 2008-09, which is presented by Royal Purple, the Conference is profiling each week the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. This week's feature is former UNC Asheville volleyball standout Ilona Fekete.

A video vignette of Fekete, featuring a retrospective from former UNC Asheville volleyball coach Lisa Rhodes, is available for viewing on the Big South's website, www.BigSouthSports.com, under the 25^th Anniversary Media Center banner. In addition, video vignettes around all the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments are now available for viewing.

In three seasons with UNC Asheville from 1990-92, Ilona Fekete set the standard for Big South volleyball. The greatest volleyball player every to play at UNC Asheville, she played middle blocker and helped lead the Bulldog program to three-straight Big South Conference regular-season championships and two consecutive tournament titles. During her tenure, UNC Asheville was 22-1 in Big South regular-season matches and 29-2 overall against League opponents.

Fekete and UNC Asheville dominated the Big South like no other program until Winthrop's five-year championship run began in 2002. During its stretch in the early 1990s, Asheville's lone regular-season Big South setback was a five-game loss at Davidson when setter Danielle Meyer was hurt in the middle of the match. In 1992, UNC Asheville became the first school in Big South history to go undefeated in both the regular-season and the Conference tournament. The Bulldogs went 9-0 in League play and won all three matches in the Conference Tournament to finish the season with a 32-6 overall record. The 32 wins remain a Big South single-season mark. In addition to Fekete, the Bulldogs also got great play from Meyer, who is third all-time in UNC Asheville history in assists and was the Big South Tournament Co-MVP in 1992, and Gina Golkiewicz, who was a two-time All-Conference honoree and holds the single-season school record for kills and attempts.

Fekete was the Big South Conference Player of the Year in 1990 and was a First-Team All-Conference performer all three years. She also was a three-time Big South All-Tournament Team selection during her career. She led the nation in blocks in 1990 and was among the national leaders in the category in 1991 and 1992. She is UNC Asheville's and the Big South's all-time career leader in block solos (521), block assists (339) and total blocks (860). Her school career record .347 attack percentage in third-highest in Big South history.

A National Player of the Year nominee in 1991 and 1992, Fekete set single-season records in 1990 for block solos (190), block assists (133) and total blocks (331). In 1991, Fekete helped UNC Asheville to a berth in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), making the Bulldogs the first-ever volleyball team in Big South history to advance to a postseason tournament. The Florida native also set the Bulldogs' single-season record for attack percentage (.381) that season, and she had a school-record 19 blocks in the 1991 Big South Championship match over Davidson.

Following her graduation from Asheville, Fekete played professionally in Sweden for one year before returning to Florida to become the head volleyball coach at Vero Beach High School. She was part of the inaugural Big South Conference Hall of Fame in 2003 and also was part of UNC Asheville's first-ever Hall of Fame Class later that same year.

Fekete is one of the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. The Conference is conducting an online fan poll to help determine the Top Moment in the first 25 years of the Big South Conference. Voting is open on www.BigSouthSports.com and continues through March 25. Fan voting will be combined with the 25^th Anniversary Committee's votes to come up with the official rank order of the “Best of the Best” moments. The countdown will be unveiled at the concluding 25^th Anniversary banquet in May 2009.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Former Bulldog Volleyball Standout Ilona Fekete Featured on Big South's 25th Anniversary

Related News

Related Videos