File photo by Steve Muscatello Martin Luther College’s Kira Grev became just the fifth player in Martin Luther College history to pass 1,000 career kills on Sept. 16. She’s also closing in on 1,000 career digs.

NEW ULM — Kira Grev became just the fifth player in Martin Luther College history to pass 1,000 career kills on Sept. 16. She’s also 80 digs away from reaching 1,000 career digs prior to Wednesday’s match.

As of Tuesday, Grev sits at 1,049 career kills and 920 career digs and is second on her team in kills this year with 132.

She is tied for fourth in program history in career kills with Lisa Gawrisch (1997-00) Rachel Kramer (1998-01) is third on the list with 1,090 career kills.

There’s more to Grev than just records and stats though. She also brings leadership, heart and passion.

Those were all common words used to describe Grev by MLC head volleyball coach Becky Cox.

“She’s a complete player,” Cox said. “She is both in the front row and the back row for us and she’s been a key component for our lineup and our program for the past four years. On top of that, she does bring leadership. She’s got a great heart and just a passion for the game. I think that provides a good role model for the rest of the team.”

Grev was honored for her 1,000-kill milestone before this past Monday’s match against St. Olaf. She said that it was great to have all of the support from her coaches and teammates.

“It was really cool,” Grev said. “My team was really supportive and when it happened, they all celebrated for me. So that was really neat to have the support from the team.”

Grev said that she’s been happy with the team and that everyone works hard to bring their best to the court each time they play.

“It’s been really good. Like I said, they’re really supportive and we all push each other to be the best we can be and to be the best teammates we can be.”

Several things go into making a good player and practice is of the utmost importance. Grev prides herself on striving to improve however she can whenever the opportunity is there.

“I think I try to work really hard both physically and mentally in practice — in season or out of season,” Grev said. “I also try to focus on doing it for my team, so that helps me.”

Cox was pleased to see Grev join an impressive list of players in MLC history and said that Grev is a humble team player.

“That’s a pretty special milestone and as they’ve said, she’s only the fifth person in program history,” Cox said. “Obviously it’s an elite company and I’m very happy for her and for this personal accomplishment. She’s very humble, so I know she’d look at it as just her contribution to the team. And 1,000 digs would put her in even more elite company.”

Assuming Grev reaches 1,000 career digs, she would become just the third MLC player to reach 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in her career, behind Gawrisch and Rebecca Engelbrecht (2010-13), who is second in MLC career kills with 1,297.