SUSAN RUCH
Volleyball, 1986-89
Inducted February 10, 2001

Susan Ruch was an SMS volleyball standout from 1986 through 1989 for the Bears and played on Gateway Conference regular season championship teams in 1986 and 1988 while the 1987 team finished second and the 1989 club tied for third in the regular season league standings.  The four teams on which Ruch played were a combined 92-33 for coach Linda Dollar.  A native of Germantown, Tenn., Ruch saw the Bears reach the Gateway tourney finals each of her first three seasons.  Ruch’s career saw her collect a number of tournament MVP honors while she was at SMS, and she was named to the Gateway all-conference second team her sophomore year and made the all-league first team as both a junior and as senior. Ruch ranked 12th individually in NCAA statistics her senior year in digs as SMS was second in Division I in that category.  She set a school season record with 490 digs for the year.  Ruch closed out her career as the volleyball Bears’ all-time leader in assists (2,043) and digs (1,583).  She was an alternate to the 1987 U. S. Olympic Festival, was on the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Midwest Team in 1988, and was the SMS Volleyball Player of the Year in 1989.   She was named the Outstanding SMS Female Athlete of the Year for 1989-90.  She was also selected to the SMS All-Decade team in 1992 in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Gateway Conference.  Ruch graduated from SMS in 1990, received a master’s degree in physical therapy from Southwest Baptist University in 1998.