Hall of Fame
Nicole “Nickey” (Zanin) Hofacker was a three-time All-PSAC Eastern Division volleyball player who graduated as Shippensburg’s all-time career leader in kills and digs. Her kills record lasted for 10 years and to this day she remains among the Top 10 all-time in school history for the category.
Hofacker was an integral member of a group of Raider teams under Michael Shatzer and Berkley Laite that went 65-40 in four years, finishing as a PSAC runner-up in 1990, winning the Eastern Division regular season championship in 1991 and reaching the conference tournament in all four seasons. In her career, Hofacker and the Raiders went 33-7 against PSAC Eastern Division opponents.
As a junior and a senior, Hofacker was selected to the All-PSAC squads that comprised the best players from both the Eastern and Western Division teams. She earned All-PSAC First Team honors in 1992 and 1993 and earned All-East honors in 1991.
She was named the Team MVP as a junior, posting career highs for service aces (45) and digs (311) in addition to 281 kills and a .304 hitting percentage. SU went 20-10 in 1992, including an 8-2 record in the Eastern Division, and finished fourth in the PSAC.
As a senior, Hofacker set a then-single-season school record for kills with 320 to complement a strong .308 hitting percentage. She finished with 287 digs, just four short of her single-season career high, but became a dynamic blocker at the net. Hofacker was credited with 74 total blocks in her senior season after totaling 67 blocks in her first three seasons combined.
Overall, her 941 kills rank eighth in school history, while her .298 career hitting percentage ranks among SU’s all-time Top 15 performers. Career totals include 797 digs, 141 blocks and 123 aces.
A three-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete, Hofacker graduated magna cum laude in 1994. She went on to earn her master’s degree in education from Wilkes University and is currently in her 19th year as a seventh-grade English teacher in the Chambersburg Area School District. For 17 years, Hofacker was an assistant volleyball coach in the district, including five years helping at both the junior and senior high school.
Nicole is married to Herman Hofacker. They are the proud parents of their 1-year-old daughter, Ayla Catherine.
