2016 Athletics Hall of Honor inductees: Al Dorenkamp '75, Candace Wilson DuRegger '01, Rick Perry '89.
Candace Wilson DuRegger '01
Volleyball
The only four-time volleyball honoree ever for the Dutch, DuRegger starred in one of the most dominant four-year runs of any team in Central history. The Dutch compiled a glossy 154-8 record during her career, which included a national third-place finish in 1997, followed by three consecutive NCAA Division III championships.
A 6-foot-1 middle hitter, DuRegger’s quickness, leaping ability and long arms made her a dominant force at the net. She set school career marks for kills (2,008), attacks (3,780) and blocks (641) along with attack percentage standards for a season (.425, 1999) and career (.398), numbers that rank among the best ever in Division III. She recorded 35 statistical double-doubles.
In 1997, DuRegger was a second-team all-America honoree before gaining first-team distinction the following three years. DuRegger teamed with fellow middle hitter Abbie Brown Sogard ’00, a 2015 hall of honor inductee, for the first two NCAA crowns, then captured another in 2000 following Sogard’s graduation, and was tabbed Iowa Conference MVP and national player of the year. Central’s 1999 squad ranks among Division III’s most dominant, posting a 41-0 record with only one match getting extended to a full five sets. Central broke the all-time, all-divisions NCAA record by winning 60 consecutive matches from 1998-2000. DuRegger closed her career in 2000 with a national title-match victory over Wis.-Whitewater at home in a sold-out P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.
Central rolled to conference titles all four years, never losing a league match.
Following her freshman season, DuRegger also joined the women’s basketball squad in December and helped the Dutch win a share of the league title in 1997-98, advancing to the NCAA tournament. DuRegger averaged 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.
DuRegger was involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Central and served on a mission trip to Mongolia in the summer of 2000. She also spent a semester in London through Central’s international study program in 2001. Following graduation, she worked for Minnesota Teen Challenge from 2002-07, before serving as women’s director for Teen Challenge of the Midlands from 2007-12, when she was based in Pella. While in Minnesota, DuRegger was also a volunteer assistant coach at Bethel University and was a club volleyball coach as well. She and her husband, Sam, now live in Oklahoma City, and are expecting their fourth child in November.
