South Side’s Own Katie Schumacher-Cawley Makes History Coaching Penn State Volleyball Team To National Title

The Mother McAuley alum is the first woman head coach to win the NCAA Division I volleyball championship.

by Leen Yassine

Updated December 24, 2024

CHICAGO — South Side native and celebrated volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley led the Penn State team to victory in the NCAA Division I volleyball championship Sunday, making history as the first woman head coach to win the title.

Penn State won against the University of Louisville women’s volleyball team, helmed by Dani Busboom Kelly. This is the first time both teams up for the championship have been coached by women since the volleyball championship was added to the NCAA in 1981.

Now eight-time national champs, the Penn State women’s volleyball team last won the title a decade ago after defeating BYU in 2014. Schumacher-Cawley, 44, played volleyball and basketball at Penn State and helped the volleyball team win its first title in 1999.

Just after the win, Schumacher-Cawley’s first words were a shout-out to the South Side.

“I just want to say hi to the South Side of Chicago,” Schumacher-Cawley said on ESPN. “I love you guys.”

Schumacher-Cawley, who is from Morgan Park, attended St. Cajetan Elementary School and is a ’97 graduate of Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School in Mount Greenwood.

The all-girls Catholic school celebrated their alumna’s achievement.

“Katie Schumacher-Cawley, Class of 1997, is the perfect example of everything we strive for McAuley women to be,” school President Carey Temple Harrington said in an email to Block Club. “She is the epitome of strength, grace and confidence. Everyone at Mother McAuley was cheering for her and with her. … This is a historic event and we are mighty proud.”

St. Cajetan also cheered Scumacher-Cawley on.

“Well we are not surprised that this Warrior rose all the way to the top and made history tonight!! Not only did alumna Katie Schumacher-Cawley win the NCAA championship title for college volleyball, but she became the first female coach to do it!!!” school leaders wrote on Facebook. “She is an inspiration to all and one of the best role models for what positive coaching should look like.”

The win comes just two months after Schumacher-Cawley announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“This news has been a lot to process, and as you can imagine, it has brought a range of emotions,” she wrote on Instagram Oct. 17. “But I’m approaching this with strength, determination, and an unwavering sense of hope. We will draw inspiration from the many people in our lives that have battled cancer and have emerged victorious.

“I am incredibly fortunate to have an amazing support system in my family, team, friends, my Penn State family, and an incredible medical team. Their encouragement and love give me the courage to face the road ahead with a positive outlook. I know this journey will have its challenges, but I also know that with the care and strength of those around me, I am ready to meet it head-on.”

The Mother McAuley school “will continue to cheer for Katie and pray for her as she battles on,” Harrington said.

Alongside her successful coaching career, Schumacher-Cawley is considered “one of the best players in state history,” according to the Illinois High School Association.

A fellow Chicagoan and other Illinoisans on the Penn State women’s volleyball team also celebrated their win, including Camryn Hannah, a graduate of Mount Greenwood’s Marist High School; Ava Falduto, a graduate of IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst; Gillian Grimes of Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park; and Catherine Burke of Loyola Academy in Wilmette.

This article was originally published by Block Club Chicago.