Stephanie (Shultis) Helms

Stephanie Helms was a four-year starting setter whose career helped rebuild the Howard University Volleyball program. During her time, she broke every major setter record, including assists per set, assists per match, assists per season, and career assists. She was also the first player in program history to compete in every set of every match of her collegiate career, totaling 425 sets.

Along with her teammates, Stephanie helped lead one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in NCAA history and finished her junior season ranked among the nation's top 20 in service aces per set. A three-year co-captain alongside fellow Hall of Fame nominee Assata Conway, she earned numerous MEAC athletic and academic honors. Her greatest achievement was being voted Team MVP senior year by her exemplary teammates.

In her application, Stephanie wrote that her legacy at Howard would be leading HU Volleyball to the NCAA Tournament. While her team fell short by one match, the culture built by Stephanie and her teammates launched an era of excellence, with HUVB winning seven consecutive MEAC Championships and multiple NCAA Tournament appearances. Stephanie still believes legacy is built through everyday perseverance, grit, and passion and is grateful to God for His faithfulness throughout her journey. Stephanie graduated cum laude from the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences with a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences.

Stephanie's professional career has spanned education, healthcare logistics, and nonprofit ministry. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led supply chain and logistics operations for one of the nation's largest BSL-2 laboratories dedicated to COVID-19 testing, ensuring uninterrupted 24/7 operations to the lab processing more than 21 million patient test results in 18 months. She later served four years as Assistant Director of Resource Development for a national military ministry supporting service members and their families.
Stephanie now lives in Idaho with her husband and two sons.