WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The first four-time All-Little East Conference selection in Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball history who remains the program's all-time leader in kills, Adrianna Mihalek '17 has been selected to the Eastern Athletics Alumni Hall of Fame, as announced by Hall of Fame chair Scott Smith.
 
Mihalek is the first announced member of the five-person Class of 2026, which will hold its 32nd induction ceremony and social Saturday, Oct. 17 at the campus's Fine Arts Instructional Center concert hall and lobby. The induction ceremony will begin at 5 p.m., with a reception to follow. Tickets are priced at $50 each. For additional information, contact Scott Smith at smithsc@easternct.edu or at 860-465-4326.
 
A native of Woodbury, the 5-foot-8 inch outside hitter led the Warriors in kills every season between 2013 and 2016 and was second in digs in each of her final three years. She remains one of only four players in program history to record as many as 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
 
Appearing in all possible 125 matches and in all but 11 of a possible 459 sets in her career, Mihalek totalled 1,494 kills and 1,051 digs. In addition to currently ranking first in kills and attack attempts (4,297), Mihalek presently ranks second all-time in points (1,172.5), eighth in sets played (448), tenth in service aces (170) and 21^st in digs (1,051).
 
Elected to the Alumni Hall of Fame in only her third year of eligibility, Mihalek becomes the first player to gain Alumni Hall of Fame induction under current 13^th-year head coach Megan Droesch, who served as an assistant coach under Peter Maneggia Jr. during Mihalek's first season in the fall of 2013 before taking the reins the following season.
 
Mihalek recorded her 1,000^th career kill against Keene State College late in her junior year and her 1,000^th dig late in her senior year, becoming the first player since 2023 Alumni Hall of Famer Karen Ann Sweet nearly 20 years earlier to join the 1,000-1,000 club. At the time of her 1,000^th kill, she ranked ninth all-time in that department.
 
Mihalek entered her senior season ranked ninth all-time in kills, 315 shy of Katie Nichols' career record of 1,381, and finally broke the 2008 Alumni Hall of Famer's 25-year-old record Oct. 22 at Geissler Gym against LEC opponent University of Southern Maine on Senior Day. Needing eight for the record, Mihalek recorded 12 against the Huskies and tacked on 11 more hours later in a sweep of Salem State University.

On that milestone day, Mihalek also erased the program record for career attack attempts.
 
During that senior season, Mihalek helped the Warriors to their most wins (19) and best winning percentage (.613) in her four-year career and to a share of third place in the LEC regular season, and was named to the New England Women's Volleyball Association Senior All-Star Game. That year, she was also named to the LEC Academic Honor Roll for the maximum third time and as an Eastern Outstanding (3.50+ GPA) Scholar-Athlete for the maximum second time and was honored with the department's prestigious  Bonnie Edmondson Senior Female SportsPerson-of-the-Year Award, which recognizes teamwork, sportsmanship, team spirit and fair play.
 
Praised Droesch of Mihalek during the latter's senior season: "Adrianna is dedicated to getting faster, stronger, jumping higher, hitting harder, and figuring out how to score. She's her ultimate critic and never her ultimate fan. Every year, Adrianna tackled one thing that was a weakness. Her very first year, it was hitting selection, widening her variety of attacks; second year was her passing, third year it was her defense. And this year [2016], we moved her defensive position, and she had to learn that, too. She has," added Droesch, "turned into a very good complete player."
 
As a sophomore in 2014, Mihalek reached 400 kills for the first of two times in her career, helping the third-seeded Warriors reach the LEC tournament finals for the first time in seven years with a five-set home sweep of Plymouth State University in the first round and a three-set semifinal sweep of second-seeded Keene State College on the road.
 
Mihalek earned first-team All-LEC honors three times, becoming the program's only All-LEC representative in each of those years. In addition to first-team recognition, she became the program's first LEC Rookie-of-the-Year in ten years in 2013 and the athletic department's Female Rookie-of-the-Year when her team-high 354 kills were more than 100 more than her nearest teammate. That year, she also led the team in reception attempts (479) and was third in digs (308).
 
Mihalek becomes the program's 14^th player (15^th individual overall) to gain Alumni Hall of Fame honors -- the seventh player to earn the honor strictly on her volleyball accomplishments.
 
Since graduating with a B.A. Degree in History with minors in Pre-Law and Political Science, Mihalek has graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Juris Doctor from the Albany Law School. A resident of Cohoes, NY, Mihalek is a practicing attorney with Pierro, Connor & Strauss, LLC in Latham, NY.