On Wednesday, it was announced that former volleyball head coach Cindy Fredrick and the 1996 volleyball team are part of the 2026 Washington State University Hall of Fame class. WSU Cougar Athletics broke the news on Instagram.
Fredrick was the WSU volleyball head coach from 1989 to 2003. She led Cougar Volleyball to a 278-192 overall record during that 14-year stretch, including seven seasons with 20 or more wins.
She coached the Cougars to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1991 and helped them earn a bid nine total times. This includes three first-round, three second-round, one Sweet 16 and two Elite Eight appearances.
The 1996 and 2002 teams she led to the Elite Eight had a combined 51 wins. It also took a top-five-ranked school in the nation to defeat those teams. In 1996, No. 2 Stanford took down the Cougs. No. 5 Florida did it in 2002.
Fredrick won the Pac-10 and American Volleyball Coaches Association District VIII Coach of the Year awards for her efforts during the 1995 season. In 1995, the Cougs went 22-7 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After Fredrick left WSU, it took the Cougars six years to qualify for the NCAA Tournament again.
The 1996 Cougar team that Fredrick coached was one of the most foundational seasons for WSU volleyball. It was the first time the Cougs made the Elite Eight, and they were ranked No. 7 in the nation, going 27-6 overall. They finished second in the Pac-10.
WSU defeated No. 21 Oregon State, No. 13 UCLA, No. 12 USC, No. 17 Washington and No. 6 Loyola Marymount University that year before being eliminated by No. 2 Stanford. They even defeated Stanford before the NCAA Tournament when the Cardinal were ranked No. 3.
The Cougs were led by middle blockers Sarah Silvernail, Keren Oigman and setter Stephanie Papke. Silvernail won Pac-10 Player of the Year, Oigman was an honorable mention and Papke made the all-conference first team. Silvernail and Papke also both won AVCA All-American honors that year.
Silvernail also recorded two matches with 35 or more kills in 1996 and set the all-time Cougar Volleyball record for kills in a season with 649. Papke set the record for assists per set, with 13.92 across 106 sets.
The 1996 team hit .283, which is second all-time in hitting percentage among all WSU teams. They also rank No. 1 in assists per set, averaging 15.9.
Both coach Fredrick and the 1996 volleyball team are historic contributors to WSU volleyball. They helped shape the foundation of Cougar volleyball and set records that have stood the test of time for decades.
