A four-year letter winner for Akron in both softball and volleyball, to become only the second Zip female student-athlete at the time to earn eight letters and was tabbed as Akron’s volleyball Most Valuable Player as freshman, junior and senior, respectively, while also being named the squad’s Most Outstanding Player on Offense three times.
A talented shortstop, became the Zips’ first three-time All-America honoree in women’s sports, earning first-team accolades in 1983 and 1984 and second-team laurels as a senior in 1985, two-time team MVP, member of Akron’s 1984 and 1985 NCAA Final Four teams, both of which earned runner-up finishes
She led the Zips in batting average as sophomore with a .451 average, before hitting .390 as a junior when Akron went 48-6. As a senior she led Akron to a 51-10 record batting .446 en route to hitting an NCAA-best 15 home runs in Division II, while adding a national-best 54 RBI and nine triples. She was later named to the USA National Team that toured Australia in 1985 where her No. 23 jersey is honored by the program. She left the program as the Zips’ all-time leader in career batting average (.398), runs scored (140), hits (236), doubles (48) and triples (35) and was honored as a three-time NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic First-Team All-Region selection
Kay was named the 1982 and 1985 Caroline J. Pardee Award winner (UA Female Athlete of the Year),1994 Varsity “A” Hall of Fame inductee, and holds the school record for most RBI in a single game with seven against Mount Union (April 20, 1983).
