Jan Saunders was one of the greatest setters in the history of the Pacific women's volleyball program. She was an NCAA and Volleyball Monthly All-American in 1982, 1983 and 1984, as well as a CVCA All-American in 1983.
In her four seasons at Pacific, the Tigers were 128-33 and advanced to three Final Fours. In 1984, Pacific finished third which, at the time was its second highest finish nationally. Her 1983 team is still tied for the best start in school history as they ran off 17 straight wins to open up the season.
Jan made the All-NorPac Conference team all four years at Pacific and she was the MVP in 1982. She was also an All-Tournament pick at the NCAA South Regionals and NorPac Championships that year. That same season, she captured MVP honors at the UCLA-NIVT and the UOP Invitational. She also played in the U.S. Sports Festival in 1982.
In 1983, Jan was named to the NCAA All-National Championship team. Saunders was also the MVP of the 1983 NCAA Northwest Regionals and the Sheraton Invitational that same year. In both 1983 and 1984, Jan was nominated for the Broderick Cup, which honors the best women's athlete in the NCAA. She graduated from Pacific in 1985 with a degree in Business/Marketing.
Saunders was Pacific's primary setter for four seasons, and would undoubtedly rank among the all-time leaders in assists in school history except for the fact that assists were not an official statistic until 1985.
Jan ranks second in most career aces with 170, and holds two of the top four single-game marks in service aces. Saunders also has two of the Top-10 service ace seasons in Pacific history; the ninth-best coming in 1982 when she had 51 and the seventh best coming in 1983 when she tallied 53.
