A native of Kingsport, Kim Tunnel-Suiter was the first volleyball player to be enshrined into Tech’s Hall of Fame, and the sixth woman inducted. She earned four letters under Coach Sharron Bilbrey between 1982-1985.
Named the OVC Southern Division Player of the Year as a senior, she was unanimous all-OVC first-team selection that year, and twice earned a spot on the OVC all-tournament team. At the time of her induction, she held the school’s best single-season marks in kills per game and hitting percentage.
As a junior, Tunnel ranked fifth in the NCAA in kills per game, averaging 5.05 per game to set a school record. She also ranked in the Top 25 nationally in hitting percentage with a school-best .316 attack efficiency. As a senior, she broke her own school-record with a .332 hitting percentage. She was listed seventh in the nation in kills per game as a senior.
During her four-year career, she helped Tech go undefeated in OVC Southern Division play, running off 24 consecutive division victories. The team won all four divisional crowns during her career.
A two-year team co-captain, she set school single-match records for most kills in a match and most aces in a match, which both still stood at the time of her enshrinement.
In 1988, when the conference celebrated its 40th anniversary, Tunnel was one of four Tech players named to the all-OVC squad.
