#5 Kaelyn Merkel

Junior season (2006) - Enjoyed her best match of the season in a four-game win over Pacific Lutheran, hitting .316 with 15 kills and a team-high 25 digs ... Finished her fall campaign with a team-high 19 digs in a five-game victory over Pacific ... Averaged 2.81 digs per game on the season.

Sophomore season (2005) - Playing primarily in the libero role, led Whitman in digs with 265, averaging 3.15 per game ... Played two of her best games near the end of the season, collecting 22 digs (plus three service aces) in four games against Puget Sound and 18 digs against Willamette ... Tied for fourth on the team with 17 service.

Freshman season (2004) - Dividing time between outside hitter and defense, played in 48 games in her first season ... Contributed 46 kills and 58 digs.

Prep - Served as a co-captain at Anacortes High School as a senior, her third varsity season for the "Seahawks" and coach Barbara Bardwell ... High school accolades included her team's best offensive and best defensive player awards ... Played two years of varsity tennis at Anacortes, including one season on the varsity ... Also played for the Skagit Volleyball Club and coach Jack Duran and the Mt. Baker Volleyball Club.

Academics - Started work on her senior thesis in the spring semester of her junior year ... Writing her thesis on long-term effects of parental divorce on levels of maturity, androgyny, self-esteem and empathy ... Plans to complete her Whitman degree in December 2007, thanks in part to college credits she earned in high school through the Running Start program ... Adding a minor in sociology to her psychology major ... Plans to attend graduate school, concentrating on child psychology and a possible career as a child counselor.

Personal - Daughter of Catherine and Mike Troxel of Renton, Wash., and Myron and Karen Merkel of Bonney Lake, Wash. ... Working a 2007 summer internship with Valley Cities Counseling and Consultation in Auburn, Wash., helping with a program aimed at building supportive teams for troubled youth ... Also working during the summer of 2007 for the Skyhawks, a youth sports camp program, coaching various sports for youth between the ages of four and 14 ... Volunteer work through Whitman's Delta Gamma sorority has focused on the Service for Sight charity ... Volunteer work in high school included helping young children in the Best Self after-school program ... Has competed on the intramural bowling team at Whitman and helped referee the intramural volleyball season.

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