No Midwest Conference volleyball team can feel too far away from a league championship after Carroll rolled to an 8-1 conference record and the first league title and conference tournament crown in school history in 2007. The Lady Pioneers had finished conference play 0-9 just two years prior before completing the unprecedented turnaround. St. Norbert has not been far away from the league title much over the past eight seasons, having won three titles and finished second on two other occasions.

Despite coming up short the past two seasons, first-year head coach Bethani Thibodeau‘s (right) Green Knights are the favorite entering the 2008 season according to the 2008 MWC Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll. St. Norbert received seven of the nine possible first-place votes, edging the defending champion Lady Pioneers, who finished second and received the three remaining first-place nods. Ripon topped Monmouth by a single vote to finish third, while Lake Forest and Beloit were also separated by a single vote en route to being picked to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. Lawrence, Grinnell, Illinois College and Knox rounded out the poll’s final four spots in order.

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Bethani Thibodeau has been named head women’s volleyball coach at St. Norbert College, athletics director Tim Bald announced on July 9.

Thibodeau replaces Matt Houk, who was hired April 11 but left in June when he was named head coach at the NCAA Division I University of South Dakota. Thibodeau has spent the last eight seasons as the head girls’ volleyball coach at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay.

Thibodeau led the Tritons to Fox River Valley Conference championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Notre Dame also won WIAA Division 2 regional championships in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006. The Tri tons also claimed the West Division championship of the Fox River Classic Conference in 2007.

A 1998 graduate of St. Norbert, the former Bethani Hyska was a four-year letterwinner in volleyball and a three-year letterwinner in basketball for the Green Knights. She was a two-time first-team All-Midwest Conference selection in both volleyball and basketball.

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Illinois College has appointed Chad Nelson of Normal, Illinois to the dual role of head coach in volleyball and softball, according to an announcement on June 11 by Athletic Director Gale Vaughn.

Nelson served previously as a volunteer assistant coach at Illinois State University and was an assistant coach for four seasons at Lincoln Christian College. Nelson is a 2008 graduate of Lincoln Christian College. He served as men’s golf coach, assistant volleyball coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at LCC from 2002 to 2006 before working as a volunteer assistant coach last fall for the Illinois State University volleyball team.

The Lincoln Christian volleyball team won the National Christian College Athletic Association title in 2003 and captured runner-up honors in 2004 and 2006. During each of Nelson’s four seasons as a volleyball assistant, the LCC women earned NCCAA Division II regional titles. The Illinois State University volleyball team finished 21-12 last fall and qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament.

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Ripon announced on May 20 that Erin Plumley (right) will be the fourth head coach in the history of the Red Hawk volleyball program.

In her three years as an assistant at DePauw, the Tigers finished with a combined record of 69-38. Plumley was an integral part of the recruiting process and conditioning program during those years.

Plumley received her Masters degree in mental health counseling from Indiana State University in May of 2008, after earning her Bachelors degree in social science from Campbellsville University in 2004. At Campbellsville, Plumley was a three-time Academic All-Conference volleyball selection for the Mid-South Conference, while also being named to the 2001 Mid-South All-Conference team as an honorable mention.

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