Hall of Fame
From the 2014 Hall of Fame program:
Katie Wilkins-Kimmich became the first (and remains just one of two) three-time All-Americans for Pepperdine women’s volleyball, and was a dominant player during the best four-year stretch in the program’s history.
A Volleyball Magazine “Fab 50” selection and the CIF Player of the Year in San Diego, Wilkins excelled at Christian High School, located in El Cajon, California. She and Lyndsey Hache’ alone combined to make up the nation’s seventh-best recruiting class as determined by Volleyball Magazine.
Wilkins wasn’t a featured player as a freshman in 2000, but exploded onto the scene as a sophomore after securing a starting position as an outside hitter. She would earn All-American second team honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association as both a sophomore and a junior, and would become the program’s first-ever first team selection as a 2003 senior.
Wilkins also dominated in the West Coast Conference, becoming the only player in league history to earn the Player of the Year award three times.
During her four years, the Waves won 100 matches -- the most in any four years in the program’s NCAA era -- and lost just 21 times. Pepperdine also went an astonishing 54-2 in league play, including three straight titles with perfect 14-0 records.
The Waves played 12 NCAA Tournament matches during Wilkins’ era, equaling the most in any four-year span. She led Pepperdine to the Elite Eight in 2002 (the farthest the Waves had ever reached), the Sweet Sixteen in 2001 and 2003 and was part of a squad that made the second round in 2000. The Waves earned the top seed in their region at the 2003 tournament and were fourth overall. Wilkins’ last three teams finished eighth, sixth and sixth in the final AVCA rankings.
Wilkins’ name appears several times on the Waves’ career records list, including third place for kills per set (4.54) and fourth for total kills (1,672). During the rally-scoring era, she holds both the number one and two spots on the Waves’ single-season list for kills (587 in 2003, 521 in 2002) and service aces (48 in 2003, 47 in 2002).
She pounded down a career-high 32 kills against Pacific during the 2003 season, a Pepperdine single-match record in the rally-scoring era. She also shares a single-match record with seven service aces set against Clemson in 2002.
In 2010, Wilkins was named one of the WCC’s 50 greatest women’s athletes during the first 25 years that women’s sports had been sponsored by the conference.
Wilkins’ volleyball career continued after Pepperdine, as she played with the U.S. National Team from 2005-08 and again in 2010. At the NORCECA Championships, she won a gold medal in 2005 and a silver medal in 2007. Professional volleyball also took Wilkins to Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2010, Turkey in 2005 and Korea in 2006-07. She also made a few appearances on the AVP beach tour in 2004 and 2005.
Now Katie Kimmich, she and her husband Daniel live in Redondo Beach, California, with their son Carter. She coached the women’s All-Air Force team at the Armed Forces Tournament in 2011 and 2013, and will be coaching club volleyball this fall.
