The Arizona volleyball record book is full of the name Madi Kingdon. The Arizona native was one of the most accomplished offensive players in the program’s history before going onto a professional career that’s still in progress and a seven-year run with the U.S. senior women’s national team. Those achievements have earned the Wildcat great a spot in the Ring of Honor.
“Madi is phenomenal,” said Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs. “I think when I got here as an assistant, I coached with her for two years,
if I’m not mistaken. Just a tremendous athlete. The fact she’s still playing at the professional level, I think, is huge. Always willing to give back and just be a part of what we’re doing.”
Kingdon, who now goes by her married name of Madi Kingdon Rishel, will become the 10th member of the volleyball Ring of Honor, joining Melissa McLinden (1982-85), Caren Kemner (1983-84), Terry Lauchner (1987-90), Barb Bell (1993-96), Dana Burkholder (1998-2001), Jill Talbot (1998-2001), Kim Glass (2002-05), Whitney Dosty (2006-09), and Penina Snuka (2013-16). Dosty was the last to be inducted, joining the group in 2022.
Kingdon Rishel’s ceremony is scheduled for before Arizona’s match against Iowa State. The match is set to tip off at 6 p.m. MST on Friday, Oct. 2. The ceremony should begin at 5:55 p.m.
Kingdon Rishel was named a third-team AVCA All-American following her senior season at Arizona. She wrapped up her career as an indoor Wildcat as a two-time All-Pac-12 and two-time AVCA All-Region honoree.
She also helped establish Arizona’s beach volleyball program, playing on Steve Walker’s first two teams. She earned AVCA All-American honors for beach as a senior in 2015 after going 24-3 with partner Kaitlyn Leary.
Kingdon Rishel is the only player in program history who is not named Kim Glass to be ranked in the top four in kills in a season. Along with Glass, who has two such seasons, Kingdon Rishel is the only Wildcat to have over 600 kills in a single season. She is ranked second with 634 (2014) and seventh with 508 (2013) kills in a season.
She is top ten in matches played in a career (T-4th/129), sets in a career (5th/1,451), kills in a career (2nd/1,943), kills per set in a career (3rd/4.31), kills in a match (T-8th/33), kills per set in a season (2014-4th/5.33), career matches with 10+ kills (1st/111), matches with 10+ kills in a season (2014-1st/34; 2013-T-4th/28), career matches with 20+ kills (3rd/27), matches with 20+ kills in a season (2014-4th/12), career attempts (1st/5,656), attempts in a season (2014-1st/1,813; 2013-3rd/1,530), attempts in a match (3rd/89 vs Stanford; 5th/84 vs BYU; 10th/79 vs Oregon State), hitting percentage in a match with 12+ kills (T-3rd/.750 vs Presbyterian), digs in a season (2014-7th/421), digs in a match (2nd/35 vs Washington State; T-7/30 vs Stanford), and career digs per set (6th/3.03).
Up next for Arizona volleyball
Iowa State Cyclones (8-5, 2-0) @ Arizona Wildcats (5-7, 0-1)
When: Friday, Oct. 2 @ 6 p.m. MST
Where: McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
Streaming: ESPN+
Stats: Arizona Live Stats
Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-6, 0-2) @ Arizona Wildcats (5-7, 0-1)
When: Sunday, Oct. 4 @ 12 p.m. MST
Where: McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
Streaming: ESPN+
Stats: Arizona Live Stats
Kingdon Rishel currently plays professionally for LOVB Los Angeles. She has also played for LOVB Houston and Athletes Unlimited in the U.S. She started her professional career overseas, playing in Azerbaijan, China, South Korea, and Türkiye.
She was a part of the U.S. national program at both the junior and senior levels. In 2011, she helped the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team finish fourth at the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship. She was part of the U.S. Women’s Junior A2 Team, now called the U.S. Collegiate National Team, from 2011-12 and helped USA Red win the silver medal at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships.
Kingdon Rishel was a member of the senior WNT from 2016-22. During that time, she helped the U.S. win two Pan American Cup gold medals (2017, 2019) and a FIVB Volleyball Nations League gold medal (2018). She was also part of bronze medal winning squads at the 2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup and the 2016 Pan American Cup. The 2016 Pan American Cup was her senior national team debut.
While most current Wildcats will be meeting Kingdon Rishel for the first time this week, she is an inspiration for those who hope to walk the same path.
“It’s an honor, really, just to see people who were exactly where I am and see all the things they were able to accomplish in their volleyball career,” said junior outside hitter Carlie Cisneros. “It’s truly inspiring, and it just means so much that I get to do exactly what she did. I get to play at the U of A and wear this color on my chest.”
Stubbs thinks it also helps with recruiting, especially within the state. Both Arizona and Arizona State have been losing top in-state players to programs outside the state for the past several years, but players like Kingdon Rishel, Jaelyn Hodge, and Jordan Wilson can remind those in the top clubs that it hasn’t been long since the state’s top players were accomplishing great things in their home state.
“The fact that she’s from Arizona is also huge,” Stubbs said. “She played for Storm Volleyball Club, and Terri Spann, the owner of the club, actually just was awarded the club [director] of the year, which is really huge. So she’s going to come down and celebrate with that. And then I think that helps in the recruiting realm that people from Storm are like, ‘oh, cool, yeah, Madi, I forgot she went there,’ or Jordan.“
