Malaika Underwood

Position:
OH
Height:
5-9
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
San Diego, Calif.
High School:
LaJolla

Senior Season:Named Tournament MVP at the University of San Diego Invitational...Named to the All-Tournament Team at the Carolina/Nike Classic...Recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and an NCAA Enhancement Scholarship...Named Team Captain...Named to the Verizon Academic All-District 3 University Division Volleyball Team...Ranked seventh in Carolina history for career digs with 1151

Junior Season: Named the ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player ... Won UNC’s Most Valuable Player Award ... Named the winner of Carolina’s Carol and J. Hawley Oakes Award for Excellence ... Fourth in the ACC in digs per game at 3.01 ... Recorded a triple double with 12 kills, 11 assists and 10 digs against South Carolina in the NCAA Championships first round on 11/29/01 ... ACC Player of the Week for the week of 11/19/01 ... Played in 117 games and 32 matches.

Sophomore Season: Played 106 games and 33 matches ... Recorded 100 kills and 263 digs in 2000 ... Finished fourth on the team in digs per game, averaging 2.48 ... Improved on freshman year statistics in games played (106), kills (100), kills per game (0.94), total attempts (35), assists (38), aces (19), digs (263), block solos (3), block assists (39) ... Named Wachovia Woman of the Week for the week of 4/7/01.

Freshman Season: Played in 29 matches and 73 games for Carolina during the 1999 season ... Twice had eight kills, vs. East Carolina and Duke ... Had a career high 33 attempts vs. Duke on 11/7/99 ... Also had 23 digs in the Duke contest on 11/7/99 ... Had a career high 1.000 hitting percentage vs. Texas A&M during the NCAA Tournament on 12/3/99 ... Had 166 digs for the season ... Had two service aces vs. Jacksonville, Clemson and Duke.

High School: Played volleyball, basketball and baseball (yes, baseball, not softball) for La Jolla High ... A highly-decorated athlete in volleyball, claiming all-county, all-CIF, all-league honors several times ... Was also named the All-City Athlete of the Year as a junior ... A four-time Union Tribune All-Academic honoree ... Led La Jolla to two Southern California state finalist finishes ... Also earned all-league honors in basketball for three years ... In baseball, was a pitcher and played second base and was named to the Union Tribune All-Academic Team ... A National Achievement Commended Scholar.

Personal: Majoring in international studies ... Has earned Dean’s List honors for six consecutive semesters ... ACC Honor Roll recipient for three straight seasons ... Coached Little League baseball in Chapel Hill in 2001 ... Malaika Marie Underwood is the daughter of Thom and Lynn Underwood ... Born 6/7/81.

Underwood's Career Highs
Kills: 12, South Carolina 11/29/01
Attempts: 35, Wake Forest 10/13/00
Hitting Pct.: 1.000, Texas A&M 12/3/99
Service Aces: 5, Coastal Carolina 9/1/01
Digs: 23, vs. Duke 11/7/99
Block Assists: 7, 9/9/01 and 11/18/01
Block Solos: 1, several times