Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech volleyball to retire Burness' jersey Friday
June 21, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
September 22, 1998
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech volleyball program will retire its first ever volleyball jersey, No. 16, worn by Jill Burness (1995-1996) Friday evening before its match against No. 17 ranked Texas A&M. The ceremony will begin shortly before the 7 p.m. start of the Texas Tech-Texas A&M volleyball match in Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. A banner depicting Burness No. 16 will be hung from the ceiling and she will be presented with a glass-encased No. 16 jersey.
Burness, who is currently working with the Texas A&M volleyball team as a graduate assistant coach while pursuing a graduate degree, was named the 1996 GTE Volleyball Academic Player of the Year. A Rhodes Scholarship candidate in 1996, Burness earned numerous athletic-academic awards and scholarships including GTE Academic All America status, the NACDA Scholarship and the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Burness also was honored with 1996 All Big 12 First Team and 1996 All Region honors. She also was in competition for a Rhodes Scholarship in 1996.
Burness played only two seasons at Texas Tech after transferring from Division II school Kentucky Wesleyan, but she made her presense quickly as she finished her career ranked among the top-10 Texas Tech volleyball players in several categories including season kills (2nd), career hitting percentage (1st), season hitting percentage (1st and 6th), career solo blocks (10th), season solo blocks (3rd), career block assists (11th), season block assists (3rd), career total blocks (10th) and season total blocks (3rd).
"Jill represents all that the Texas Tech volleyball program stands for," Texas Tech head coach Jeff Nelson said. "She was an outstanding student along with a great volleyball player. We are extremely excited to honor her and make her a permanent part of Texas Tech volleyball tradition."
TEXAS TECH VOLLEYBALL WEEKEND SCHEDULE Friday, Sept. 25- *No. 17 Texas A&M (7-1) at No. 25 Texas Tech (10-2), 7 p.m.; Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Saturday, Sept. 26- No. 13 Texas (6-2) at No. 25 Texas Tech, 7 p.m., Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
*Jill Burness will be honored with her jersey retirement prior to match
JERSEY RETIREMENT No. 16- JILL BURNESS (1995-96) Texas Tech Volleyball
Jill Burness arrived at Texas Tech in 1995 as a junior college transfer from Kentucky Wesleyan College, an NCAA Division II school with an enrollment of 650 students, but she departed Texas Tech as possibly the most heralded student-athlete in the school's history.
Burness, a 6-2 middle blocker from Corrales, N.M., set a precendant for athletic and academic excellence which will be virtually impossible for future student-athletes to match at Texas Tech.
In her two years at Texas Tech, Burness guided the Red Raiders to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1995 and 1996. During her senior season, she was selected as the GTE-CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All America of the Year, an award given to the top student-athlete for each sport in the country. She also was a Rhodes Scholar candidate and earned the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship along with the NACDA Scholarship, awarded by the nations athletic directors. In addition, she also was honored with all-region and all-conference athletic awards.
Burness is currently working as a graduate assistant coach and attending graduate school at Big 12 rival Texas A&M University. Her number 16 is expected to be retired sometime during the 1998 volleyball season.
BURNESS' CAREER HONORS/AWARDS 1996 GTE-CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All America of the Year 1996 GTE-CoSIDA Academic All America 1996 Rhodes Scholar candidate 1996 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship 1996 NACDA Scholarship 1996 Jeannine McHaney Award winner 1997 Margaret Wilson Acadmic Award winner 1996 All Region 5 selection 1996 All Conference First Team Top-10 in 1996 Big 12 in kills, kills per game, hitting percentage, block assists, total blocks, blocks per game 1996 All Big 12 Conference Academic First Team 1996 three-time tournament Most Valuable Player 1995 GTE-CoSIDA Academic All-America
BURNESS' CAREER STATISTICS AT TEXAS TECH Year GP K E TA Pct. Digs BS BA TB 1995 88 206 66 470 .298 51 20 80 100 1996 114 427 126 912 .330 146 48 123 171 Tot. 202 633 192 1382 .319 197 68 203 271
