Last weekend, Penn State Volleyball made history— and oh boy, did they make it look so seamless. Handing the Cardinals a 3-1 loss at home, they welcomed one of the most emotional NCAA title wins ever! Especially, the moment when coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley embraced her girls covered in white and blue confetti and lifted the championship trophy— it was the kind that gives you goosebumps!

Not only was this Penn State’s eighth NCAA title overall, but it was a significant milestone in Coach Schumacher-Cawley’s journey, who became the first woman head coach to lead a team to a national championship title since 1981! And mind you, she’s been with the Nittany Lions for just three years now. Yet, her ability to bring out the best in the team and thrive despite adversities earned her a well-deserved shoutout from the USA’s current Vice President.

Vice President Kamala Harris applauds Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley

As the Louisville Cardinals played the Nittany Lions at the KFC Yum! Center, a historic first was guaranteed— the maiden female head coach to win the D1 women’s volleyball NCAA title. It was supposed to be either Coach Dani Busboom Kelly or Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. However, when it was the latter who etched that mark, even the American Vice President Kamala Harris stepped up to pat her on the back.

Taking to X, Vice President Kamala Harris hailed the Penn State Coach saying, “Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley has led @PennStateVBall with strength and determination. Her historic victory and perseverance this season are an inspiration to so many. Congratulations to the team on your National Championship.” Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley was diagnosed with breast cancer in September, but she chose to stay back and steered her team to one of its most historic seasons ever. This is something that has won her plenty of plaudits.

But where does coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley get her inspiration from? Well, she confessed, “I’m inspired by the young kids that are sick.” Crowning the cancer-struck children as her sources of inspiration, she said, “I’m doing treatment at UPenn and every time I walk into the hospital, I walk right past the children’s hospital. Sure, if I can be an inspiration to someone then I take that but I feel good and I’m lucky to have the people around me. I think thats why we’re successful.” It truly felt like a full-circle moment for the coach!

However, this is hardly the first time when someone is hailing Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s journey. Ever since she’s led Penn State to the title, congratulations have been pouring in.

Penn State alumni voices her support for Coach Katie

Looking at Penn State Volleyball’s overall success this year, their 2017 graduate and Olympic gold medalist Haleigh Washington chimed in to voice her admiration for the team and the coach’s efforts. She took to X and congratulated them saying, “First of all, I just think Katie’s done an outstanding job with this program.”

Haleigh Washington continued, “Obviously, Russ had such a long legacy there, so it was no easy job to take over after him, but I think she’s just done an outstanding job building a really impressive new program and an impressive new group of girls.”

Truly, after Coach Russ led Penn State to their first seven NCAA titles, it’s only coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley who could fill in her shoes. After all, she’s learned significantly from her 4 years as an assistant coach under him and is able to implement that effectively now!