By RICHIE HALL
The spirit of Krissi Davis could be felt in The Mill Tuesday night.
The Noblesville volleyball team paid tribute to the woman who brought the Millers to new athletic heights during the 1980’s, and doing so while being an exceptional teammate, person and representative of Noblesville. Davis passed away on Saturday, but anyone attending the volleyball match knew she was in the building.
The volleyball players and coaches wore gray t-shirts that said on the back “KMD” and the number “42,” the number Davis wore when she played basketball for Noblesville. The players also wore tributes on their shoes and hair ribbons.
The tribute was deeply personal to Millers coach Jill Almodovar, who was teammates with Davis on both the volleyball and basketball teams during the 1986-87 school year. Almodovar, then Jill Lyon, was a freshman and Davis was a senior.
“It’s every young kids’ dream to be on a team and look up to somebody like Krissi,” Almodovar told the Reporter Tuesday morning. “Krissi was the poster child of Noblesville.”
Davis and her Miller basketball teammates became the queens of Noblesville in 1987, as they completed an undefeated season. The Millers went 27-0 and finished things up on Feb. 28, 1987 with a state championship, beating Anderson Highland 47-38 in the final game. Davis scored 12 points and pulled four rebounds.
Noblesville athletic director Leah Wooldridge played for the Highland team, and remembers the battles with the Millers not only in the state championship game, but in the regular season, as both teams were members of the Olympic Conference then. The two of them also played together in AAU basketball.
“Krissi was one of the most fierce competitors I ever played with and against,” said Wooldridge. “She was hard nosed and had an impeccable work ethic. Off the floor she was one of the nicest human beings I have ever met. She was a jokester and enjoyed life to the fullest. It was my honor and privilege to know, play against, and with Krissi. She will go down as one of the best to ever play the game; we lost a great one.”
Davis finished her career as a Miller with 1,269 points, placing her fifth on the all-time scoring list. She was also Noblesville’s first girl Indiana All-Star, and went on to be inducted in both the Noblesville High School Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. (Davis is actually in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame twice, as the 1987 state championship team is also an inductee.)
Before the state championship basketball game, Davis was part of another historic occasion for the Millers. She led Noblesville to its first-ever sectional championship in volleyball on Oct. 25, 1986. The Millers beat defending champion Carmel 15-10, 16-14, with Davis hitting 14 kills and making four blocks. She was a four-year letter winner in volleyball.
“She was smart, loyal to the program, did everything correctly,” said Almodovar. “She was exactly what you wanted to be. The bigger thing for me, personally, was that Krissi and me had a very large bond. She took me under her wing. Krissi was somebody that probably has taught me how to be a winner. How to be a good friend and how to love. She embodies those things and she taught me those things.”
Almodovar said that the bond between her and Davis “has never gone away.”
“Krissi’s that kind of friend that it doesn’t matter when you see her, everything’s the same when you see her,” said Almodovar. Time doesn’t matter. And every teammate that I’ve spoken to about this, we’re all brokenhearted. Every coach that’s coached her.”
Davis went on to play college basketball at Notre Dame, where she scored 1,194 career points (placing seventh on the all-time list) and was a four-year letter winner and two-year MVP. She also received the Byron V. Kanaley Award, the most prestigious honor that can be presented to an Irish senior athlete.
A Sunday tweet from the Notre Dame women’s basketball team featured a quote from Irish coach Muffet McGraw, who noted that Davis was part of her first class. McGraw became the Notre Dame coach in 1987, Davis’ freshman year.
“On the court, Krissi was a very competitive and intense player, but off the court, she was a lot of fun to be around,” said McGraw. “She had a great sense of humor and you could always count on her to diffuse a pressure situation with a witty or sarcastic comment. She was a good friend to everyone who knew her and she will be missed by the entire Notre Dame family.”
The Noblesville girls basketball Twitter account posted that the team was saddened by the loss of Davis. “She was one of the greatest athletes to ever put on a Miller uniform,” the tweet said. “As great as she was an athlete, she was an even better person.”
After graduating from Notre Dame, Davis returned home to Noblesville, where she was a 25-year employee and part owner of Davis-Haslam Inc. She also helped the next generation of Miller athletes.
“Krissi coached with me for two years,” said Almodovar. “The relationship that we had as players just bled right into what we were doing as coaches. Krissi’s a competitor, and Krissi’s a go-getter and Krissi embodied everything we want – I still do things that she would do. I still stop myself from doing things because of her.”
Almodovar said that when you’re in Krissi Davis’ tribe, “you’re in it forever.”
And that’s how long Krissi Davis will be remembered in Noblesville: Forever.
(Photo provided)
The Noblesville volleyball team paid tribute to Krissi Davis before its match Tuesday with special t-shirts, and also had tributes on their shoes and hair ribbons. (Kent Graham)