Former NCAA All-American and national champion Katie Schumacher-Cawley was named the head coach of the University of Illinois at Chicago volleyball program on December 5, 2008. Schumacher-Cawley takes over the reigns at UIC after spending the previous six seasons as an assistant coach for the Flames, including the last five as the top assistant coach. A 2002 graduate of Penn State, Schumacher-Cawley helped lead the Nittany Lions to the 1999 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship and three Big Ten Conference titles during her career at University Park. Schumacher-Cawley was a three-time All-Big Ten selection, two-time All American and an AVCA All-Region selection in 2001. Schumacher tallied 1,310 kills (tenth in Penn State history), 299 blocks (eighth in Penn State history) and 772 digs.
A native of Chicago's South Side, Schumacher-Cawley first tasted the collegiate coaching life in 2002 when she served as a volunteer coach for the University of Illinois. She had spent her entire collegiate career at Penn State serving as a coach for the Nittany Lions' summer camps in both volleyball and basketball. She first broke onto the local sports scene as a prep star for volleyball power Mother McAuley. From 1993-97 she excelled at volleyball and basketball, earning All-Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) honors in both sports and leading the Mighty Macs to state and national titles in volleyball. Schumacher-Cawley was named the 1996 Player of the Year by The Star Newspaper and the 1997 Chicago Sun-Times Female Athlete of the Year, among many awards and highlights, before heading to Penn State. She was also inducted into the GCAC Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Catholic League Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2008 a resolution in the Illinois House of Representatives congratulated Schumacher-Cawley for her achievements. On October 15, 2008, Schumacher-Cawley was inducted into the prestigious Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport of volleyball as an athlete and a coach. She was inducted in a class that featured the likes of Pro Football Hall of Famers Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers and Marv Levy, Chicago Cubs great Andre Dawson and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Schumacher-Cawley was married on May 26, 2007 to Mike Cawley of Pittsburgh. The couple resides in Chicago. |
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