2014 (Senior):
Joining the pantheon of all-time Tiger greats, Howard put a final exclamation point on a stellar final season as she was named an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention in 2014. For the season, Howard was the Tigers'' most consistent performer en route to leading Pacific to its most successful season in over a decade as Pacific finished 24-7 and 13-5 in the WCC. Howard earned First Team AVCA All-Region and First Team All-WCC recognition for her play after finishing her final season as arguably the WCC''s best all-around middle. For the year, the senior tallied 282 kills (2.61 kps) as she recorded a WCC-best .394 attack percentage for the season which ranks No. 2 all-time in Pacific single-season history. In conference play, Howard was even better as she finished the 18-match slate with 203 kills (2.99 kps) while hitting an impressive .417. She also led the team with 135 blocks averaging 1.25 blocks per set. Against the best-of-the-best, Howard was the Tigers'' best player as she posted a .396 attack percentage while posting 118 kills and just 25 errors in 235 attacks against nationally ranked opponents. She averaged 2.74 kills per set and added 1.33 blocks as she produced 57.0 total blocks in just 11 matches and 43 sets against the best of Pacific''s opponents.
2013 (Junior):
In her third season in the middle, Gillian proved to be one of the best defensive blockers in the country. She earned All-WCC honorable mention honors as she finished the Tigers'' inaugural season in the West Coast Conference as the second-best blocker in the league. Averaging 1.52 blocks per set in conference matches, Howard finished second overall in conference blocks per set while posting a conference best 105 total blocks. On the year, she averaged 1.43 blocks per set, a mark which ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 10 all-time in program history for a single season. She became the first Tiger in over a decade to record 10+ blocks in a set in 2013, a feat she would accomplish three times during the conference season including a career-best 11 against Santa Clara on Oct. 17. Offensively, Howard posted 234 kills and 11 aces while adding 74 digs in 30 total matches. She posted a career-best 21 kills on just 28 swings while hitting .714 in the Tigers'' final match of the season against UTEP.
2012 (Sophomore):
Earning a starting middle spot in her second year of action, Gillian proved herself one of the best defensive players in the Big West en route to earning First Team All-Big West honors at the end of the season. Overall on the defensive side of the net, Howard posted 158 total blocks while averaging 1.25 per set. For the year, Howard''s 1.25 blocks per set ranked No. 2 in the Big West for the regular season while she raised her average to 1.29 blocks per set in conference matches. Individually, Howard showed her skills as one of Pacific''s best blockers in the past decade as the second-year blocker posted nine blocks in a single match in three different contests. Her nine blocks tied for the most in a single-match for any Tiger over the past 10 seasons. Her 158 blocks ranked as the 13th most in single-season program history and the third most in the last 20 seasons. In addition to her defensive prowess, Howard posted a career-best 213 kills on .269 hitting while playing in all 126 sets for Pacific. She added 20 aces and 103 digs while posting 322.5.
2011 (Freshman):
In her first season of collegiate volleyball, Howard got off to a slow start as a serious ankle injury in preseason training hampered her play and her growth out of the gate. Despite struggling early with the injury and fighting for playing time with Pacific’s established starters, Howard came on late for the Tigers to play in 14 matches while earning six starts. She finished the year with 67 kills on 171 attacks while adding 31 blocks for a 0.77 blocks per game average. Throughout the year, Howard showed flashes of brilliance to come as she tallied 17 kills and a .424 hitting percentage to lead the Tigers’ past Rice in five-games in Hawaii. In addition to the kills, Howard posted five aces in the match and four blocks, including three solo efforts. Her best blocking night of the year came one week later as the young middle blocker tallied six blocks and tallied seven kills to help propel the Tigers to a come-from-behind five-game victory over UC Irvine for their first conference win of the year.
High School/Club:
Graduating from La Jolla Country Day in La Jolla, Calif. in 2011, Gillian helped lead her school to back-to-back league titles in her final two seasons of play. As a junior, Howard led the way to the Torrey''s first ever California State Championship after posting a nearly perfect mark of 39-1 while taking the Coastal-South League title with an 8-0 record. As a senior, Howard and the Torrey''s ran the table for the second-consecutive season in league play to earn their second-straight Coastal-South title. They entered the playoffs ranked No. 9 in the nation according to Prepvolleyball.com. For the year, Howard posted 179 kills while leading the team defensively with 91 blocks. On the club level, Howard has been a member of the prestigious Coast 18 Volleyball Club which took home the bronze medal in the 2011 USA Junior National Championships. Throughout the tournament, Howard proved to be one of the top players in Atlanta and was named to the all-tournament team at the end of the four day event.
Personal:
Gillian Howard is the daughter of Teresa and Jim Howard. She graduated in 2015 with a degree in psychology.
