July 12, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Former Notre Dame volleyball standout Jessica Fiebelkorn-Kerr will be returning to the program as the team’s second assistant coach, head coach Debbie Brown announced today.

Fiebelkorn-Kerr, 27, spent the past four seasons (1994-97) as the first assistant women’s volleyball coach at Indiana University, where her primary responsibilities included serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator and providing skills training for all positions except setter. After graduating from Notre Dame in 1993 with a marketing degree from the College of Business Administration, she spent the following year as head coach of the Ofo Strong club volleyball team while serving as the district manager of Automatic Data Processing in Minneapolis, Minn.

The addition of Fiebelkorn-Kerr gives the Irish staff 24 combined years of coaching experience at the Division I level, as Brown is entering her 14th season as a head coach (eighth at Notre Dame) while first assistant coach Steve Hendricks has been a Division I assistant for the past seven years (four at Notre Dame).

Fiebelkorn, who married Jason Kerr in September of 1994, played for the Irish during the 1989-92 seasons. The Maple Grove, Minn. native was named team MVP in 1992 while also earning Midwestern Collegiate Conference player of the year, second team All-Mideast Region, honorable mention All-America from Volleyball magazine and GTE second team Academic All-America.

Fiebelkorn played for Brown as a junior and senior, helping the Irish reach the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in 1991 and the NCAA Championship in 1992. The Irish went 4-2 at the ’91 NIVCs, including a 2-2 mark in five-game matches, before losing at Penn State in the ’92 NCAAs. Fiebelkorn helped the Irish post a record of 26-10 in 1991 and 30-9 in ’92, with the .789 winning percentage in ’92 remaining fourth-highest in the program’s 18-year history.

The first Notre Dame volleyball player to receive All-America mention and the program’s first member of the 1,000 kills-1,000 digs club, Fiebelkorn ranks fifth at Notre Dame in career kills (1,299) and third in digs (1,324). She also ranks in the following Irish career categories: second in dig average (2.96/gm), third in total blocks (504) and block avg. (1.13/gm), fourth in solo blocks (107) and service aces (112), fifth in kill avg. (2.91/gm), attack attempts (3,199) and ace avg. (0.273/gm) and ninth in hitting pct. (.252).

Fiebelkorn also ranks seventh in Notre Dame history with 447 games played and fifth with 63 double-digit kill matches. She posted 10-plus kills and 10-plus digs in 42 career matches, second only to Christy Peters’ 64 “double-doubles” in Irish history.

Fiebelkorn was a first team All-MCC performer and MVP of the MCC Tournament in both 1991 and ’92. Her award-winning senior season included 388 kills and 474 digs, making her one of only three Notre Dame players ever to surpass 350 kills and 350 digs in the same season. Her 474 digs and 3.95 digs/gm in ’92 both remain second in Irish history (Peters had 500 and 4.10 in ’93) while Fiebelkorn’s 425 digs as a junior rank third in the Irish record book.

As a junior in 1991, Fiebelkorn totaled 186 blocks, which remains second in Notre Dame history behind Mary Kay Waller’s 206 in 1988. Her 1.40 blocks per game in ’91 stand sixth all-time at Notre Dame.

As a freshman in 1989, Fiebelkorn posted 23 matches with 10-plus kills (tied for seventh in Irish history), including 10 straight double-digit kill matches (tied for fourth all-time). Her 19 double-double matches that season remain third-best in Irish history.

Born March 11, 1971, Fiebelkorn-Kerr will continue studies towards her law degree, as a visiting student at Notre Dame’s Law School.

NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH DEBBIE BROWN: “Jessica brings a lot of strong qualities to our staff. She was a student-athlete here at Notre Dame, she is a very good coach and she has four years of experience as a first assistant. It’s great to add that type of experience to your program. … I coached Jessica for two years here as a student-athlete and I know she will be just as successful as a coach for this program. … Jessica was a great all-around player–she could dig, pass, block and was a versatile offensive player as well. She has a great understanding of the game and will be able to work with several positions and various situations.”

JESSICA FIEBELKORN-KERR: “I am very excited for this opportunity to return to Notre Dame and I think it will be a very enjoyable experience. Career-wise, my focus is to end up in coaching and to coach with Debbie is an incredible opportunity. I’m looking forward to learning a great deal. I want to use this experience to develop my own career in coaching or administration. I also feel that Debbie respects my interest in furthering my education, which is great to have that kind of support. … At Notre Dame, you have to buy into the tradition, the fight and the spirit. When I was a player, we faced certain challenges and Debbie did a great job of getting us to buy into the dream of making the NCAAs. Now, the team has great talent and is looking towards the dream of reaching the NCAA final four’ I’m eager to be a part of that process and couldn’t think of a better place to do it than at my alma mater.”