Former volleyball star enters Hall of Fame

Lindsey Oberacker (16) celebrates with her teammates in 2009. Oberacker led the team to its first NAIA tournament appearance in 2011.

Written By Mike Turk, Staff Writer

Lindsey Oberacker helped lead Point Park Volleyball to its first conference championship and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national tournament appearance in 2011. She is the all-time kills leader at Point Park and now, she will be inducted into the Point Park Athletic Hall of Fame.

Oberacker played under Head Coach Mike Bruno from 2009-12 and was a key element in the transitional period for putting Point Park volleyball on the map.

“I was surprised,” Oberacker said. “I sometimes forget how long I’ve been out of college for so I didn’t even realize I was eligible yet but it was pretty cool.”

She became eligible for the Hall of Fame this Fall semester after being graduated for five years. Other eligibility criteria for nominees include analyzing the nominees leadership roles, varsity letters won, awards received, post season success, achievement in multiple sports, national or international recognition/honors, and athletic or professional success after leaving Point Park. Nominees do not need to be a Point Park degree holder and there is no minimum requirement for number of years participated in a sport at Point Park.

She fit all of the necessary criteria and the decision was unanimous by the committee, making her a first-ballot inductee.

“It’s a well-deserved honor,” Bruno said. “She was a special player who excelled in the classroom and on the court.”

From McDowell High School in Erie, Pa., the former outside hitter played all four seasons for the Pioneers where she collected 1,855 kills and 1,060 digs, making her one of five players in the program’s history to record over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

She was a two-time NAIA Honorable Mention All-American, a three-time AVCA All-Northeast Region First Team selection, a four-time all-conference first team selection and a multi-year team captain.

“The honors I earned with my team while I was there are the ones that I remember,” Oberacker said. “I wouldn’t have gotten this Hall of Fame honor without the people I played with.”

While she was excelling on the court and breaking records, she was doing the same thing in the classroom.

In both her junior and senior seasons, she was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team which made her one of the top six student athletes in the NAIA.

“In my ten years here at Point Park, she’s pretty much the top female athlete that I can remember overall in athletics and academics combined,” Point Park’s Sports Information Director Kevin Taylor said.

The Point Park Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with its first class and reborn in 2000. Once the Class of 2017 is inducted, there will be 58 former athletes, coaches, administrators and one team enshrined in the Point Park Athletic Hall of Fame.

Oberacker will be the first women’s volleyball player inducted to the Hall of Fame since Rachel Roddy in 2015. She will also only be the fourth player in the program’s history to be inducted. The others include Linda Keibler-Guercio who was a member of the 2009-10 Class and Jana Orlofske who was a member of the Class of 2008.

Oberacker moved to Fayetteville, NC in 2015, where she currently resides, and got accepted into physician assistant school. She is currently in her second year of Graduates school but is making the trip to Point Park for her Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2017 will include Oberacker and Angela Olivieri, who played soccer for the Pioneers from 2006-09. The ceremony will be held Sept. 30 on campus.