Southern Illinoise University Athletics
10/17/2026 | 8:00:00 | General, Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Former Saluki volleyball standout Andrea Estrada joined the Saluki Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday as a member of the 2026 class.
A native of Medellín, Colombia, Estrada competed for the Colombian national team and served as team captain. She helped lead the U20 squad to a 13th-place finish at the FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship in the Czech Republic.
Estrada said her induction is both an honor and a responsibility.
"As an athlete, I remember how much I wanted to be part of this," Estrada said. "Now that I'm being inducted, I feel a tremendous honor and responsibility to be part of such a selective group."
During her five years at SIU, Estrada studied philosophy and redshirted the 2013 season. The extra year helped prepare her for an immediate impact in 2014, when she earned Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team honors and led the Salukis with 322 kills. She started all 31 matches that season.
Estrada helped lead one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2015. She earned All-MVC First Team, AVCA All-Region and MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention honors while also collecting MVC Player of the Week recognition. She led the Salukis with 431 kills as SIU earned the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
"As a group, I don't think we realized how much history we were making," Estrada said. "Going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time at SIU was a huge accomplishment and something that will always stay with us."
Estrada continued her success over her final two seasons, becoming just the fourth player in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. She earned All-MVC Second Team honors in both 2016 and 2017 and became the fourth Saluki to receive all-conference recognition in each of her four playing seasons.
For Estrada, the Hall of Fame also provides an opportunity to celebrate teammates and friends who have shared the honor.
"I also want to recognize my friends who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, Cartaesha and Dyana from the basketball team," Estrada said. "To my teammates who have also been inducted in recent years, Meg and Taylor, congratulations. You deserve this so much, and I'll always remember how much fun we had playing together."
Today, Estrada lives in Colombia and travels internationally for work.
Estrada joins some of the most influential figures in Saluki Athletics history in the Hall of Fame, including Dr. Charlotte West and Kay Brechtelsbauer. She is the first Saluki volleyball player inducted since Taylor Pippen joined the Hall of Fame in 2023.
