Inducted 1993. Member of U.S. Volleyball Team in Two Summer Olympics. Class of 1983.
Caren Kemner took QND by storm in the fall of 1979, her freshman year. By the time she graduated in 1983, she had set standards in girls’ athletics that will never be forgotten or possibly surpassed.
Kemner started her varsity volleyball career as a freshman by helping the Lady Raiders advance to the Class AA state tourney, losing to the eventual champion, Oak Park River Forest. The next fall, 1980, her sophomore season, she led her team to an undefeated state championship. In 1981, she led her team to the sectional championship, which they ended up losing, and in her senior season, the team went back to the state tourney and finished third.
Kemner was team MVP in 1980, 1981 and 1982; named to the All-State team in 1980, 1981 and 1982; and was named All-American in 1981 and 1982. She holds career records for serving percentage, games played, spikes for points, spikes for side-outs and spiking percentage.
Kemner also starred in softball. She helped the Lady Raiders to an undefeated state championship in 1981, a repeat state championship in 1982 and a third-place finish in 1983. She was the all-state tournament shortstop in 1981 and 1982. She holds career records in hits, runs batted in, runs scored, walks, doubles, triples, home runs, assists and has a record batting average of .555.
Kemner played basketball her freshman and junior years, helping the Lady Raiders to a third-place finish in state in 1982.
After graduating from QND, Kemner enrolled at the University of Arizona on a volleyball scholarship. She played two seasons before leaving to join the U.S. National team after the first semester of her second year at Arizona. She has played in two Summer Olympics, and as captain in 1992, she helped the U.S. Women to a bronze medal.
She is currently playing with the U.S. National team in Japan after playing pro volleyball in Italy and Brazil the last couple of years. She will be working with the National team to prepare for the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.