LOUISVILLE, Ky. — What's remarkable is that two women are coaching to national championships and one won the title for the first time in 44 years of NCAA women's volleyball. It's worth noting that two of these women, Katie Schumacher Corey and Dani Basboom Kelly, are doing it.
Because they are ideal representatives.
In this historic moment, Penn State's Schumacher-Coley and Louisville's Basboom Kelly squared off in front of a sold-out KFC Yum! They embody what it takes to reach the top in a male-dominated industry.
Of the 20 winningest coaches in Division I women's volleyball history, 18 are men.
“It's great for the sport to get out of this predicament and move on to the next step, especially since it's unprecedented for a woman to win,” said the 39-year-old, who will be competing in the national championship for the second time in her eighth season. said Basboom Kelly. Championship game against the Cardinals. “That's always the case.”
Penn State (34-2) and Louisville (30-5) reflect their coaches' drive and resiliency. They had dramatic wins against Nebraska and Pittsburgh, respectively, in the national semifinals on Thursday.
Schumacher Corey and Basboom Kelly both provided solid coaching. The team's stunning comeback against an opponent considered to be ranked No. 1 and No. 2 nationally in talent, depth, and championship-level experience has earned him a lot of attention from the sidelines. Confidence was built.
even deeper
Penn State and Louisville to compete for national women's volleyball title
The Nittany Lions fought off two match points against Nebraska in the fourth set and cruised to a five-set come-from-behind victory.
At the start of the decisive fifth set, junior libero Jillian Grimes heard a voice of relief in the Penn State huddle: “We're built for this.” This phrase was not coined by Schumacher-Coley. However, it was because of her that this was said.
Louisville players have been under pressure all season to qualify for the Final Four at home. Basboom Kelly implored the Cardinals to remain calm as stress mounted as Pitt won the first set and took the lead in the second.
“This is starting to work,” she said.
Without star attacker Anna DeVere, the senior suffered a two-point injury in the fourth set, but after giving up three set points to the Panthers in the third, the Panthers swarmed the pits.
In other words, Penn State and the city of Louisville refused to evict them. They kept taking big swings. they played to win.
“We're never talking about losing,” Penn State outside hitter Jess Murzik said. “No matter how big the deficit we face, we will never ignore ourselves.”
Penn State and Louisville were the tougher teams in the game, which was played in front of an NCAA postseason record crowd of 21,726.
Is that surprising considering the coaches?
“The girls are tough,” said Nebraska coach John Cook, who has won four national championships. “And those two guys are really tough. Look at them as players. They've both won national championships, so this is no fluke. These guys are winners. They're great competitors. And their team plays like that.”
Schumacher-Coley, 44, is Chicago's tough brand. She grew up in the city and competed in multiple sports at Mother Macquarie High School. She played at Penn State, where she won two national championships and won the school's first women's volleyball national championship in 1999 under coach Russ Rose.
Rose went on to win six more titles. He is the all-time leader in championships and wins among Division I coaches. In 2008, Schumacher-Coley was inducted into the Chicagoland Hall of Fame in the same class as Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, and Andre Dawson.
She ran the program at Illinois-Chicago for eight seasons and returned to Penn State in 2018 to work at Rhodes. That was four years after the Nittany Lions reached the Final Four until last week.
When Rose retired in 2022, he was replaced by Schumacher-Coley.
“Following Russ Rose and leading a team back to the Final Four in just three years is an incredible feat, regardless of whether you're a man or a woman,” Basboom Kelly said.
At the beginning of her third season this fall, Schumacher-Coley was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and began chemotherapy. Although she lost her hair, she never missed team practice.
“Obviously I want to do this for her because she's been so great all season,” said Murzik, who had a match-best 26 kills against Nebraska. “So that damn five-set win helped put another brick in what we're trying to build on this season.”
Schumacher-Coley deflects questions about his health and gender issues in coaching.
“I’m really excited to represent Penn State,” she said.
Perhaps, she said, when she steps out under the lights on Sunday, the greatness of the two women sitting on the bench with trophies on the court will sink in.
“I'm proud of this team,” Schumacher-Coley said. “I think I said that every day. I'm proud of their fight.”
The fight goes beyond volleyball.
Louisville coach Dani Basboom Kelly has been named the 2021 AVCA National Coach of the Year. (Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal/USA Today via Imagn Images)
When Bass Boom Kelly took over as Louisville's manager in 2017, he doubled the Cardinals' win total from 12 to 24 in one season.
In 2019, Louisville advanced to the Round of 8 for the first time. Basboom Kelly was named National Coach of the Year in 2021 after the Cardinals went undefeated until the Final Four, losing in five sets to the University of Wisconsin. A year later, Texas defeated Louisville to win the national championship.
“She ushered in one of the major turning points in the university's volleyball program,” Cook said.
Basboom Kelly played for Cook at the University of Nebraska from 2003-2006. He scouted her from a farm near Cortland, Nebraska. She was a multi-sport star at tiny Adams Freeman High School.
In college, he switched from setter to libero, and in 2006, along with future Olympians Jordan Larson and Sarah Pavan, led the Huskers to the national championship. In 2015, he won another title with the Cook & Huskers as an assistant coach.
A year later, she took over at Louisville.
“I hope people appreciate what she’s accomplished here,” Cook said.
Louisville fans are speaking highly of Basboom Kelly and the Cardinals based on the reception they received Thursday.
“The last time I spoke about Dani on the microphone, I think I called her a terrible person,” Louisville middle blocker Pekran Conn said Friday at a press conference for the championship preview. “So I'm going to double down on that, because she's legit.”
In Thursday's fourth set, with De Beer out with an injury and the U.S. seniors unable to play in the championship game, middle blocker Carla Kresse committed two blocks to Basboom Kelly.
Produced by Kresse. The momentum reversed. The Panthers collapsed late in the game. Even sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock, who was named Player of the Year on Friday, felt the pressure. The Cardinals accepted.
“This is for all the people who doubted us,” Louisville outside hitter Charity Looper said.
Her coach watched with a smile.
More than breaking the glass ceiling on Sunday, Bathbom Kelly will be coaching a woman to lead her team to a national championship, and she has a message for athletic directors and potential future coaches: He said he's excited to help people understand that it's possible.
“We’re just really proud to be role models,” she said. “And if possible, I would like to forge a new path.”
(Top photo of Schumacher-Coley: Dan Rainville / USA Today via Imagn Images
