 Nia Grant |
2014 (Senior): Her .458 hitting percentage ranks second nationally and second in the Big Ten ... Totaled seven kills on 13 errorless swings, adding two aces, two digs and two blocks in her senior season debut against TCU (8/29) .. Had nine kills on .467 hitting against UCLA (9/6), tallying a match-high seven blocks and two aces ... Posted double-digit kills in three-of-four matches at the Villanova Classic, setting a career-high mark with an .846 hitting clip against Yale (9/13) ... Registered a team-high 10 digs on 16 errorless swings against Eastern Illinois (9/19) ... Tallied seven kills at No. 5 Wisconsin (9/24), while also ranking second on the team with three blocks ... Led the team in kills (14) and blocks (8) at No. 17 Minnesota (9/27), setting two season-high mark ... Tied for first on the team with 11 kills on .625 hitting at Iowa (10/4) ... Matched a season-high mark with a .846 hitting clip against Iowa (11/12), tallying 11 kills and a team-high six blocks ... Led the team with a career-high 10 blocks at Michigan (11/19).
2014 Honors:
All-Big Ten (unanimous) ... Preseason All-Big Ten ... Big Ten Player of the Week (9/15) ... Villanova Classic All-Tournament Team.
2013 (Junior): Selected to the AVCA All-Northeast Region team and earned AVCA All-America honorable mention honors ... Played in 35 games this season, starting 33 matches ... Finished fifth on the team with 208 kills, averaging 1.76 per set ... Her .350 hitting percentage ranked second on the team and fifth in the Big Ten ... Also tallied 38 aces in 2013, which closed out the season ranked second in on the team ... Registered six kills against Syracuse (8/31), adding one service ace and three digs ... Posted five kills, one ace and three block assists against No. 19 Louisville (8/31) ... Tallied four kills, three aces, four digs and three blocks at No. 6 Texas (9/7) ... Ranked third on the squad with eight kills, one ace and one block against No. 8 Florida (9/8) ... Registered five kills, an ace, two digs and two blocks against Marquette (9/13) ... Tied for second on the team with six kills, while also tallying an ace and three digs against Central Arkansas (9/14) ... Logged six kills, one dig and one block at FGCU (9/14) ... Ranked third on the team with five kills against Eastern Kentucky (9/21) along with one ace and three blocks ... Recorded eight kills and two blocks against Yale (9/21) ... Registered nine kills on .667 hitting against No. 15 Michigan State (9/27), adding two digs and two blocks ... Had eight digs, one digs against No. 10 Michigan (9/28) ... Posted four blocks at Indiana (10/3), while also recording two kills and three digs ... Matched a season-high mark with nine kills at No. 24 Purdue (10/5), adding two blocks and two aces ... Tallied four kills, four digs and one ace against No. 11 Minnesota (10/9) ... Posted four kills, four digs and one ace against No. 19 Wisconsin (10/12) ... Recorded 10 kills, two digs, an ace and a season high six blocks at Illinois (10/18) ... Matched a career high mark with 11 kills at Northwestern (10/20), adding one ace ... Logged a team-high six blocks against No. 24 Ohio State (10/23), adding four digs, three kills and an ace ... Posted a team-high .625 hitting clip against Iowa (10/26), pounding six kills and five total blocks ... Led the team with two service aces at No. 17 Michigan (11/1), adding five kills and four blocks ... Posted four kills on six errorless swings for a .667 hitting clip at No. 14 Michigan State (11/2), posting two aces and four total blocks ... Had nine kills, two blocks and one ace against No. 14 Purdue ... Recorded three kills, three digs and three blocks against Indiana (11/9) ... Posted seven kills, three digs and two blocks at No. 14 Wisconsin (11/15) ... Tallied five kills, one ace, three digs and two blocks at No. 11 Minnesota (11/16) ... Matched a career-high mark with 11 kills against Northwestern (11/22), adding two aces and three blocks ... Totaled seven kills, seven digs and five blocks against No. 20 Illinois (11/23) ... Recorded six kills, one dig, and two blocks at Ohio State (11/27) ... Notched four kills, one dig and three blocks at No. 10 Nebraska (11/30) ... Led the team with seven blocks against LIU Brooklyn (12/6), adding six kills ... Notched five kills, two digs and two blocks against Utah (12/7) ... Had five kills and five digs vs. MSU (12/13) ... Posted four kills and four digs against No. 7 Stanford (12/14) ... Had six kills, one ace, two digs and four blocks in the NCAA national semifinal match against No. 3 Washington (12/19) ... Posted four kills, one dig and four blocks in the national title match against No. 12 Wisconsin (12/21).
2012 (Sophomore): Academic All-Big Ten ... started all 36 matches at middle hitter ... was second on the team in blocks with 120, averaging 0.97 blocks per set ... had at least one block in 35 of 36 matches and had 32 multiple block matches ... was fifth on the team in kills with 205, averaging 1.65 kills per set with a .376 hitting percentage ... had at least one kill in every match of the season and two double-digit kill matches ... had nine kills in 13 errorless swings and four blocks vs. Stanford (8/31) ... had five kills vs. DePaul (9/8) ... posted eight kills and three blocks vs. Oregon State (9/8) ... had five blocks vs. Nebraska (9/19) ... posted 11 kills and six blocks vs. Iowa (9/22) ... posted 11 kills and three blocks at Wisconsin (9/28) ... had eight kills on .800 hitting and four blocks at Minnesota (9/29) ... posted eight kills at Northwestern (10/5) ... had a match-high five blocks vs. Purdue (10/12) ... had seven kills on .429 hitting with eight blocks vs. Indiana (10/13) ... put up six blocks at Michigan (10/20) ... posted five kills in seven errorless swings at Iowa (10/24) ... put down eight kills and had five blocks at Nebraska (10/28) ... recorded nine kills against Minnesota (11/2) ... had three blocks vs. Wisconsin (11/4) ... tallied six kills on 10 at¬tempts against Illinois (11/8) ... tied for first on the team with eight kills vs. Northwestern (11/10) ... had a team-high eight blocks at Indiana (11/16) ... second on the team with nine kills on .500 hitting with a match-high four blocks vs. Binghamton (11/30) ... tied for the team lead with seven blocks vs. Minnesota (12/8).
2011 (Freshman): Started 32 matches at middle hitter ... was second on the team with 107 total blocks, averaging 0.91 blocks per set ... had at least one block in 30 matches ... totaled 151 kills for the season with a .346 hitting percentage ... recorded at least one kill in 30 matches and had three double-digit kill matches ... had 11 kills in 17 errorless swings and was second on the team with eight blocks in collegiate debut vs. USC (8/27) ... had four blocks vs. Long Island (9/16) ... put up five blocks at Nebraska (9/21) ... combined for nine total blocks in matches vs. Wisconsin (9/30) and Minnesota (10/1) ... had 10 kills vs. Illinois (10/8) ... second on the team with 10 kills at Purdue (10/14) ... tied for first on the team with five blocks at Indiana (10/15) ... posted nine kills in 11 errorless swings vs. Ohio State (10/19) ... had eight kills on .455 hitting vs. Michigan (10/22) ... was second on the team with five blocks, including three solo vs. Iowa (10/28) ... had five blocks vs. Nebraska (10/29) ... had a personal-best nine blocks at Minnesota (11/4) ... tallied nine kills and had six blocks at Wisconsin (11/6) ...combined for 10 kills on .692 hitting with six blocks vs. Liberty and Delaware (12/2-3).
High School
Three-year varsity letterwinner and team captain at Howland High School in Warren, Ohio ... led the team in kills and blocks as a freshman ... earned the Outstanding Achievement Award for volleyball as a sophomore ... named the District I Volleyball Player of the Year, named MVP and picked up District I Division I First Team honors as a junior ... named to the Under Armour Watch List as a senior ... Volleyball Magazine 'Fab 50' ... four-year letterwinner in track & field.
Personal
Born Nia Nicole Grant on May 8, 1993 in Warren, Ohio ... parents are African and Stacey Grant ... has one brother, A.J. Grant (18), and one sister, Faith (15) ... father, African, played football for the Miami Dolphins ... majoring in communications ... names traveling as her favorite hobby, Lady Gaga and Tyga as favorite entertainers, 'Bring It' as favorite TV show, the Miami Heat as favorite professional sports team, 'The Fifth Element' and 'Finding Nemo' as favorite movies, Lebron James as favorite athlete, Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie as favorite actors and curry goat as favorite food.
Grant[apos]s Expectations
'I expect to look better as a team and come out with a different mindeset this year. We don[apos]t have the excuse of [apos]being young[apos] anymore, so we need
to prove our actions that we want to reach as far as our potential this year.'