CAREER PHOTO GALLERY
A 1999 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American, Trisha Shea graduated with 1,957 career kills, which remains the most in the history of women’s volleyball at New Haven, and was the 13th-most in NCAA Division II history at the time of her graduation.
Over her career, Shea helped lead the Chargers to 148 wins and four-straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Championship, advancing to the Final Eight in three of her four seasons. Additionally, the Chargers won three New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championships.
Shea remains among the elite to ever play at New Haven. In addition to being the all-time leader in kills, she is one of just eight players to finish their career with the Blue and Gold reaching the 1,000 plateau in both kills and digs. She is currently seventh all-time with 1,307 career digs and seventh in program history with 189 service aces. Additionally, her individual season numbers remain among the best as her 603 kills as a sophomore and junior is the second most in a single season, while she became the first ever player to reach 500 digs in a single season (currently fifth in a single season), doing so as a senior.
Appearing in all but one match in her freshman season, Shea closed out her rookie campaign with a career-high .334 hitting percentage with 233 kills, 24 aces and 26 total blocks. She would increase those numbers by nearly three times as a sophomore as she led the team with 603 kills, becoming only the second person in school history to finish with 600 or more. Following her sophomore season, the accolades began to pour in for Shea as she was named to the NECC All-Conference First Team, while garnering her first AVCA All-Northeast Region distinction.
As a junior, Shea matched her previous season total with 603 kills, while dropping in a career-high 59 service aces and returning a career-best 57 blocks. For the second-straight season, the Temperance, Mich. native garnered First Team All-Conference and All-Northeast Region honors.
In her final campaign, Shea would lead the Chargers back to the NCAA Final Eight for the third time in her career, again leading the team offensively with 518 kills, becoming the all-time leader at New Haven in the semifinal match of the NECC Championship against UMass Lowell. She would match that half century mark on the defensive side of the ball, becoming the first player in school history to record 500 or more digs in a season. She also added 49 service aces and 48 total blocks, breaking into another top-10 category, closing out her career seventh with 189 aces.
All of those numbers were rewarded following the season when in addition to a third-straight year on the NECC First Team and AVCA All-Northeast Region teams, Shea became the fifth player in program history to earn All-American laurels, named to the AVCA Division II Second Team. That followed NECC Player of the Year honors, as Shea became only the second Charger to earn the distinction during New Haven’s tenure in the league.
