Player Bio: Paige Benjamin - University of Washington Official Athletic Site
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Paige Benjamin is one of the team's returning starters ... has great leaping ability and solid blocking skills ... excellent off-the-net hitting ... moved full time into the outside slot after splitting time between the outside and the middle during her first two seasons ... has developed her all-around game, with the ability to play defense and jump serve ... one of the team's best athletes, who has all the physical tools to excel at the highest level.
At Washington: 2001 (Junior): One of three Huskies to earn Pac-10 honorable mention honors ... first team Pac-10 All-Academic and second team Verizon Academic All-District for the second consecutive season ... third all-time in UW history for career hitting percentage (.288) ... played in every match for the second straight season, logging time in all 97 games ... started 23 times, third-most for the Huskies ... ranked second in kills per game (2.90), hitting percentage (.293) and blocks per game (0.91) ... also was second in attack attempts with 662 ... hit .327 in Pac-10 matches ... began the year with double-figure kill totals in each of her first six matches ... had a career high five aces in a win over Purdue on September 1, helping the Huskies serve 16 aces overall in the four-game match ... team high 17 kills and two aces versus Texas ... hit .391 with 14 kills on 23 attempts to help the UW to a three-game sweep of SE Louisiana on September 7 ... one of two Huskies to hit above the .450 mark at home against No. 4 Stanford ... had 12 kills on 21 attempts with just two errors for a .476 hitting percentage ... eight blocks versus the Cardinal was a team best and a season-high ... hit above .333 in eight consecutive matches from September 27-October 16, including three over .500 performances ... nine kills and only one error on back-to-back nights, September 27-28 ... one of five UW players in double-digit kills in the team's first win over Arizona State (October 14) since 1998, tagging 14 kills with a .500 hitting percentage ... seven blocks in a five-game thriller at No. 7 Arizona ... matched her career and season-best hitting percentage with a .571 mark versus non-conference opponent Portland ... improved her offensive output in the last quarter of the season, recording six of eight matches with 10 kills or more ... first double-double of the season on October 26, at home versus Oregon State ... finished with 16 kills on a career-high 54 attempts and 13 digs ... hit at a .500 clip in the three-game win against Oregon on October 27 ... season-best 20 kills and 20 digs at No. 8 UCLA ... 20 digs were a career best and tied as a team season-high ... 20 kills is just one off her career-high 21-kill performance against Stanford in 2000 ... final double-double (10 kills, 11 digs) of 2001 in a home match with Arizona. 2000 (Sophomore): Earned first-team Pac-10 All-Academic honors as well as second team Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades ... began the season as one of the team's starting center blockers, but later moved over to the outside hitter position ... saw several rotations in the back row ... third on the team in kills per game (3.12) and second in hitting percentage (.252) and blocks per game (0.82) ... recorded 122 digs (1.33/g) after tallying just 18 as a freshman in 71 games ... 17 matches with double-digit kills, including a string of 11 in the last 14 matches ... five double-doubles ... had 10 kills, seven blocks and a career-high six assists at New Mexico ... hit a career-best .538 with 15 kills on 26 attempts and only one error in the team's 3-2 upset over Texas ... 16 kills and a career-high 10 blocks in four games at Idaho ... 14-kill performance at Stanford began a string of six-straight matches with double-digit kill totals ... recorded then a career-high 15 digs versus both Oregon and Arizona State before logging a career night in Seattle against Stanford ... tallied career-high 21 kills on 54 attempts (career-high) to along with career-best 17 digs ... finished the season with a double-double, knocking down 12 kills and picking up 11 digs in three-game win over Gonzaga.
1999 (Freshman): Came on at the end of the season to become a regular in the Huskies' rotation, playing one of the center blocker spots opposite Lisa Underhill ... named honorable mention Pac-10 All-Freshman ... finished the year having played in 71 of 90 games ... tops on the team in hitting percentage with her .358 mark ... fourth in the Pac-10 in attack percentage ... third on the club with 70 blocks (0.99 per game) ... first double-digit kills match came vs. Oregon State on Oct. 22 when she posted 10 kills and no errors on 26 swings for a .385 percentage ... also had a career-high eight blocks in that match ... season-high 16 kills came the following night vs. Arizona State, when she hit .500 (16-3-26) ... 12 kills and only one error on 29 swings (.379) vs. Washington State on Nov. 12 ... closed out the season with a 15-kill, five-block match at California, adding only two errors in 32 attacks for an impressive .406 percentage ... hit .380 and averaged 1.16 blocks per game in home matches.
At Redmond High School: A three-year letterwinner at Redmond for coach Dan Turner ... served as team captain her last two seasons ... team was a combined 62-18 over her three years ... all-league as a junior and senior and earned all-Eastside, team MVP, all-state and Eastside Journal Player of the Year as a senior ... team finished eighth in state her senior year ... once had 32 kills, 20 blocks and 18 digs in a win over Eastlake ... played club for Washington Volleyball Academy ... also earned three letters in basketball and track ... finished second in the state in the triple jump as a senior ... named the Eastside Journal Scholar-Athlete of the year ... member of the National Honor Society and graduated with honors with a 3.84 GPA. Personal: Born September 11, 1981, in Bellevue, Wash. ... parents are Krista and Tony ... father played football for Duke University and for the Seahawks in the 1970s ... has a brother, Evan, who is a redshirt freshman strong safety for the UW football team ... also has one sister, Courtney ... majoring in accounting.
