"I came into college just hoping to play somewhere; this is going to top off the best four years. It was such a great program, and I'm glad I'll be remembered as a part of a great program."

Kimball, who is working toward a masters degree in sports management at Long Beach State, was a three-time All-West Coast Conference first-team selection, receiving the honor from 2001 to 2003.

Her No. 18 jersey will join three others that were retired.

"As a freshman I remember hearing all the stories about how good they were," Kimball said of the other players whose jerseys were retired. "It's neat to be associated or considered as one of them."

Her parents, Ron and Camie, will fly to California for the ceremony.

Kimball, a three-time team captain, was the fourth Lion to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career, playing either outside hitter or middle blocker.

Kimball is in the LMU record books in several career statistics, including third in service aces (122), sixth in kills (1,105), sixth in solo blocks (73), sixth in digs (1,032; 2.65 per game), eighth in games played (389), and 10th in kill average (2.84).

Kimball now lives in Costa Mesa, which is about a 45-minute drive from the LMU campus in Los Angeles, allowing her to catch "about a dozen" Lions games this season.

She also is interning with the NCAA, helping to promote December's NCAA Championships. The three-time Academic All-WCC selection also was honored with an NCAA Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics. She received the postgraduate scholarship for the 2004-05 academic year for her graduate studies.