Francis Marion University athletic officials recently announced that former women's volleyball and basketball player Jennifer Grande Parker and former men's basketball player Daryl Blume are the newest inductees into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame on March 1, 2008.
A native of Des Plaines, Ill., Grande Parker played four years of volleyball (1993-96) and one year of basketball (1993-1994). She was a member of FMU's chapter of Psi Chi Honor Society and was named to the 2005 Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll. She earned the B. S. Psychology degree in 1997 and the M.A.T. in 2000, and later received the M.Ed. from the State University of West Georgia.
She now resides in Charleston with her husband and two children.
She ended her volleyball career as FMU's all-time leader in kills (1,523), aces (279), and digs (1,568), while owning eight Peach Belt Conference records. At the time, she became only the third three-time All-Conference selection in Peach Belt volleyball history, and in her senior year helped the Patriots go "worst-to-first," winning the 1996 Peach Belt title.
She twice set the Peach Belt single-season record for service aces (93 in 1994 and then 105 in 1995), and was twice named the Peach Belt Player of the Week. She was twice named FMU's most valuable player, and later returned to the court as a Patriot assistant coach for the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
