Bio

Kate Witte retired on Dec. 31, 2019, after her 29th season as head coach of the Ohio Northern University volleyball program.

During her 29 years at ONU, Witte has guided the Polar Bears to an impressive 742-241 record (.755 winning percentage), 19 Ohio Athletic Conference regular season titles, 15 OAC Tournament Championships, 23 NCAA Division III Tournament bids, 12 NCAA Division III Tournament Sweet 16 appearances, four Elite 8 appearances and one Final Four appearance.

The Ohio Northern volleyball program is one of the more storied programs in the university’s athletic history, posting an impressive 1,348 victories in 61 seasons. Northern also posted an NCAA all-divisions record 35 consecutive winning seasons from 1976-2010.

Witte retired as one of the nation’s top coaches.

She was named OAC Coach of the Year in ’91, ’94, ’96, ’97, ’02, ’08 and ’19 and the AVCA Regional Coach of the Year in ’94, ’96, ’97, 2003, 2009 and 2016.

Witte also earned All-Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2016 for leading the Polar Bears to as high as No. 22 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association coaches poll.

In addition to coaching, she also served as ONU’s Senior Woman Administrator from 2000-2016, is an NCAA Great Lakes Region representative, an assistant professor in the ONU Department of Human Performance and Sport Sciences and is one of the department’s most respected and knowledgeable educators.

She is also the director for ONU’s annual summer volleyball camps, serves as the Chair of the Great Lakes Region, on the NCAA regional ranking, and All-Region and All-America selection committees.

Witte came to ONU from Iowa State University, where she had been a temporary instructor of health studies in the department of physical education and leisure studies and the coach for the men’s volleyball club team for two years.

Witte graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1982 with a degree in health and physical education. While there, she was a four-year standout and was named to the Midwest Region AIAW All-America team her senior year.

From 1982-87, she taught health and physical education on the elementary and high school levels in Iowa and was the head varsity volleyball coach at St. Albert High School.

In 1989, Witte obtained her master’s degree from Indiana University in school health education. While at Indiana she served as an associate instructor and graduate assistant to the women’s volleyball program.

Volleyball under Witte