July 18, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Former Notre Dame volleyball standout and current Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tour player Angie Akers is featured on the cover of the August edition of Runner’s World magazine. Akers, who graduated in 1998 as Angie Harris before marrying former Irish football player Jeremy Akers, had been a serious distance runner prior to joining the AVP last year.
The Fort Wayne, Ind. native and 1994 graduate of Bishop Luers High School was named the AVP Rookie of the Year in 2002 and is currently ranked as the No. 9 team on the tour, along with partner Sarah Straton.
After leaving Notre Dame, Akers was an avid runner for three years, finishing the Boston Marathon with a time of 3 hours and 23 minutes. She then moved to Long Beach, Calif. to pursue a career in beach volleyball.
Akers is still the Irish recordholder in a number of career categories, including kill average (3.97), double-digit kill matches (88), service aces (239), and ace average (.602). The most prolific server in Notre Dame volleyball history, Akers remains the only player ever to register more than six service aces in a match, doing so three times (including the school record of nine). Her career total of 239 aces is nearly double that of the next highest total (Alicia Turner, 135).
A two-time all-BIG EAST honoree, Akers had a stretch in 1997 of a school-record 17 consecutive matches with 10 or more kills after notching 20+ kills in three consecutive contests.