University of Texas Athletics

Nikki Busch Zigler was a member of four-straight Southwest Conference Championship teams from 1988-91 and was a freshman on the 1988 team that won Texas its second volleyball National Championship. A two-time All-American middle blocker for the Longhorns, Zigler was also a two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year and three-time All-SWC first team selection. In leading Texas to the 1990 SWC title, she posted a career-best .365 hitting percentage and had 361 kills and added 97 total blocks and 243 digs. As a senior in 1991, she put up nearly identical numbers on her way to a second-straight SWC Player of the Year Award with 354 kills, 98 total blocks and 300 digs. Zigler's sophomore season in 1989 was a breakout year, posting career bests of 408 kills, 128 total blocks and 330 digs while hitting .318. At the time that she completed her career, she ranked fifth in kills (1,174), seventh in attacks (2,578), seventh in digs (908), sixth in solo blocks (97) and fourth in block assists (251) on the UT all-time charts. She was selected to participate in the 1989 and 1990 U.S. Olympic Festivals. Zigler earned her bachelor's degree in geography from The University of Texas in 1993. Following graduation, she was invited to train with the U.S. National Team and briefly did that before moving on to play professionally in France. Zigler later earned a spot on the SWC All-Decade First Team for the 1980s. She has been with Verizon for the past 24 years working in international wireline translations. Zigler and her husband, Kevin, have one son, Austin, and reside in Clarksville, Ga.