“To say I’m proud of this team would be an understatement.” Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s pupils have thrilled her — big time. She’s now the first female coach to have steered her team to become the women’s D1 volleyball national champions. All this while she grapples with her gut-wrenching illness! Needless to say, the woman’s a fighter, especially considering this turnover she wrote for Penn State after their world came crashing down 3 years back.

In 2022, the Nittany Lions hit rock bottom, so to speak. Russ Rose, the legendary head coach who guided Penn State to seven NCAA titles and 41 tournament appearances in a 43-year career, retired. The program was torn apart as a total of seven players entered the transfer portal after the season. But not everyone jumped ship for good—some took a second look and decided to stay.

Katie’s 2024 NCAA team star Quinn Menger was about to leave

Speaking to Richmond Times, Quinn Menger recently confessed how her fresher year at Penn State was nothing like she’d ever experienced. She struggled to find her identity as a college athlete because, in Richmond, she was a big fish in a little pond. However, when she entered Penn State, that changed. “And then I got to Penn State, and I was just another big fish, swimming with the sharks,” she said.

Clearly each day was a battle, and she was already fighting. However, things were far more complicated than they seemed. Making it to the playing squad on the court wasn’t easy, either. And only when she was starting to adapt, Coach Russ Rose, who headed the Lions before Katie Schumacher-Cawley, retired and that hit her like a jolt.

After 43 long years, Coach Rose was ready to bid farewell to the side, but at what cost? Well, multiple players like Kaitlyn Hord, Jenna Hampton, Emily Oerther, and others started dropping. At that moment, Quinn Menger was also someone who thought of shifting for a fleeting second. Why wouldn’t she? She wasn’t playing a lot and on top of it, there had been a historic coaching change.

But here’s what she did instead. “Honestly, when the thought did cross my mind, I immediately shut it down,” Menger said. The current defensive specialist in coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s side then brought herself back by channeling her self-belief, “I’d be like, ‘What are you doing? Like, 10-year-old Quinn would be slapping you in the face right now, like, you’re playing for Penn State.”

And, of course, her loyalty came into play, too. “I couldn’t imagine myself going to another university and getting my degree anywhere else,” Menger said. The next thing she knew, Penn State had elevated Katie Schumacher-Cawley from assistant to head coach and thus Menger stayed back.

The transition also forced Menger to step up, lead from the front, and take on a bigger role. Well, she did just that. And today it might seem worth it as Menger’s just helped lead Penn State to the NCAA women’s volleyball title in Louisville. Of course, an elephant’s share of the credit goes to Coach Schumacher-Cawley too, who has exceeded expectations.

Katie Schumacher-Cawley fits well into Russ Rose’s shoes

Just imagine, Coach Russ Rose finished his head-coaching career with 1,330 victories, the record among NCAA Division I women’s volleyball coaches. Imagine: he was so good at the coaching business that Nebraska mastermind John Cook was ready to bid $500 for that notebook Rose writes notes in! But this season, coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley has proved that she’s stepping up too.

Whilst battling breast cancer, Coach Kattie Schumacher-Cawley has led Penn State to its eighth title. She is only the second coach after Russ to have led the Lions to the NCAA Championship title. Plus, the team’s 35 wins this season were the most of any Penn State team since 2014! In fact, her journey was so inspiring that even the US Vice President Kamala Harris penned a special shout-out for her.

Even the Penn State girls adore her and look at her as their role model. No wonder they kept showering her with blue and white confetti in their winning moment. Also, the days of fearing transfers because of coaching changes are now in the past, as Katie Schumacher-Cawley has shown, she’s more than capable of holding the reins! What do you think? Let us know below.