Meghan Niemann

Classroom

Meghan Niemann graduated with a 3.79 GPA in elementary education and mathematics. She enrolled in graduate school this summer and has a 4.0 GPA, working toward her masters in educational policy and foundations with an emphasis in curriculum. Niemann has been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic team for three seasons and was named Marquette’s BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2015-2016 academic year. She also was named the BIG EAST Conference Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award winner.

Character

Niemann is dedicated to making her community better. She did her student-teaching last spring at Garden Homes Lutheran School, which sits on the edge of a community-owned housing project in the city of Milwaukee. She will be moving on to teach there full-time after she finishes grad school this year. In watching the way Niemann interacts with her students and other children in the community, to say she’s a role model for these kids is an understatement. She takes her job as an educator very seriously. She puts so much heart into every interaction she has with her students.

As a teammate, Niemann has evolved into one of the best leaders the coaching staff has ever seen. The best part about Niemann is that she was thrust into a leadership role when she first got to Marquette, and she didn’t have all the right answers. However, she’s been more than willing to work at it and take in feedback and has used this to become one of the best teammates/leaders the staff and support staff has ever been observed.

Community

Throughout her career at Marquette, Niemann has dedicated herself to giving back to her community. She has logged more than 350 community service hours, including working with Hunger Clean Up for three years and multiple service learning hours tutoring young children. In addition to volunteering, she organized an event, Hot Shots, at an elementary school, which included a fundraiser and multiple competitions. Niemann has been active with her church and helped host multiple volleyball clinics.

Competition

Niemann has been a respected competitor since she came to Marquette. So far, she has played in all 111 matches that she has been eligible to play and is a starting middle blocker for Marquette. Niemann has racked up numerous accolades, including a three-time selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team and the All-Tournament Team in 2013 when Marquette won the BIG EAST Championship for the first time in school history. Niemann has been a part of three NCAA Tournament teams—four if including her redshirt freshman season. Niemann was a 2013 AVCA honorable mention All-American and was twice named to the BIG EAST preseason squad. As of mid-September, Niemann needs just three more blocks assists to become Marquette’s all-time leader, breaking a record that has stood since 1997. She set the single-season assisted block record in 2014 with 137. Niemann currently ranks second on Marquette’s career hitting percentage list with a .325 hitting percentage.