Erin M. Bowe
(Click name above to watch HOF video)
Volleyball (2013-2014)
• Two-time All-ISCC, All-Region and 2014 NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American
• Led Waubonsee to its first Region title and National Tournament appearance
• Chiefs’ all-time career leader in kills and points, and digs in a season
Every championship team has that one player who is force to be reckoned with on offense, a leader in the huddle, and the “go-to” player when the outcome of the game is on the line. Erin Bowe was that player and person for Waubonsee’s volleyball program in 2013 and 2014, helping lead the Chiefs to their first ever appearance at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
Bowe graduated from Rosary High School in Aurora and then joined Steve Kish’s program at Waubonsee. By the time the 5’10” outside hitter stepped off the court for the final time, she had etched her name all over the Chiefs’ record book. Bowe quickly made an impact as she earned All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference and All-Region First Team honors as a freshman. That season she set a Chiefs’ single-season mark for kills with 494 and points with 583.5, while also establishing a school record with 30 matches recording double-digit kills.
As a sophomore she was even better, and so were the Chiefs. Waubonsee went undefeated in conference action, losing only one set by just two points in 10 league matches on the way to winning the Skyway title for the first time ever. The Chiefs then captured the Region title for the first time and went on to place 13th at the National Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. The 2014 squad set program single season records for kills, solo blocks, assists, points and digs, all marks that still stand. Coach Steve Kish’s team also tied the school mark for wins in a season with 35, placed in the top 25 of the NJCAA Division II poll for the first time in school history, and along the way defeated Kirkwood (IA) Community College, which was the number one ranked team in the nation at the time.
Bowe was at the center of it all, the cornerstone of a group that won 70 matches over two seasons, the most wins ever over a two-year span in program history. The Geneva resident again earned All-ISCC and All-Region First Team honors. She was also selected to the Region 4 All-Tournament team, and was chosen Waubonsee’s Female Athlete of the Year. Bowe established a Chiefs’ single-season mark for digs with 754, registered 474 kills, 580 points, 54 service aces and 59 solo blocks. Bowe finished her Chiefs’ career as the school’s all-time leader in kills with 968, points with 1,163 and matches with double-digit kills doing it 50 times. Bowe holds the second and third highest single-season records for kills at Waubonsee and is second in career digs as well with 1,161. To cap it all off, Bowe was named a 2014 NJCAA Division II Honorable Mention All-American, the first ever Waubonsee volleyball player to earn All-American distinction.
A Biological Sciences major with emphasis in Pre-Pharmacy, Bowe went on to earn a Community Health B.S. Degree at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2017. She worked as a Pharmacy Technician at Riley Drugs for two years before earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in 2022. Bowe served post-graduate residencies in Asheville, North Carolina and Lexington, Kentucky. She is currently an Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist at University of Kentucky HealthCare in Lexington. Bowe and her fiancée Sam Barrett are set to get married in August of this year.
