Chris Catanach Selected to AVCA Hall of Fame
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is proud to announce the 18th annual AVCA Hall of Fame Class. University of Tampa head coach Chris Catanach, Denise Corlett, Rich Kern, and Ron Kordes will be honored in ceremonies at the 2020 Jostens Coaches Luncheon, during the 2020 AVCA Convention in Omaha, Nebraska.
The AVCA annually recognizes those individuals who have reached the pinnacle of their profession and the sport with AVCA Hall of Fame induction. The first AVCA Hall of Fame class, a total of 23 individuals who had earned either the AVCA Founders Award or AVCA Excellence in Education Award, were honored at the 2003 AVCA Convention. These four will make a total of 88 members in the AVCA Hall of Fame.
CHRIS CATANACH
Chris Catanach has always had success. Three National Championships, 64 NCAA All-Americans, and a 1,097-209 overall record are just the beginning of Catanach's impact on the University of Tampa and the landscape of volleyball in general. Over the course of his 36-year coaching journey, the U.S. Virgin Island native has stamped his name as one of the best coaches in the country at any level.
Catanach has guided the Spartans to a pair of 40-win seasons and 18 more 30-win seasons. The 17-time AVCA South Region Coach of the Year was named the AVCA DII National Coach of the Year in 1991, 2006, 2014, and 2018. The off-court success by the Spartans has led to eight AVCA Team Academic Awards.
That success has inspired volleyball participation in the Tampa community and region. Catanach has served on several NCAA regional and national committees, AVCA committees, and has helped make the Sunshine State Conference one of the deepest in Division II.
"I feel that during his time at Tampa, Chris has made an impact both on the court, but has also inspired volleyball in the Tampa community, junior volleyball and the city itself," said University of North Carolina Head Coach Joe Sagula. "There are a few programs in the country that can impact a region and the Tampa program has done just that for many years."
DENISE CORLETT
Denise Corlett is the first career assistant coach to be inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame. In her 31 years with the Stanford program, Corlett worked for three head coaches, was twice named AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, and was part of a staff that won 18 Pac-12 Championships, nine NCAA Champions, and amassed an overall record of 875-146.
It is not just the length of time that made Corlett's career Hall-of-Fame-worthy. As the first full-time assistant, named in 1989, she was a disciplined recruiter scouring the country to find the few who could compete at the highest level in both the court and the classroom. Leveraging Stanford's national reputation, Corlett took the time to recruit the entire country. She also stayed heavily involved with USA Volleyball, always working the National Team Tryouts and during several stints as the Youth and Junior National Team coach.
In 1999, Corlett was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame as a three-sport athlete. In her time with the Bruins, Corlett was a national badminton champion, three-time volleyball All-American, and played on the Bruins' national championship women's basketball team.
"I've always felt that a key component to success in leadership is surrounding yourself with people who not only can handle the parts of the job that you realize you're not [good at], while at the same time share your vision and being able to bring their own perspective during respectful collaboration," said former Stanford University Head Coach Don Shaw. "One of the best decisions I made during my tenure at Stanford was bringing Denise on board."
RON KORDES
Ron Kordes never planned on being the volleyball coach at St. Raphael Parish in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1980's, but he heard they needed a coach and accepted the job. At the time, he was a boys' basketball coach and had little exposure to the game of volleyball. 32 years later, Kordes has crafted one of the best high school volleyball teams in the country at Assumption High School.
Since he started coaching at Assumption High School in 1988, Kordes has won 20 state championships and five national championships. He was instrumental in the creation of the Pioneer Region and is serving his 22nd year as commissioner. In 2000, Kordes established the Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy (KIVA), and has since won 50 national championships. He also played a vital role in the building of the Ohio Valley Volleyball Center in Louisville.
Kordes was named AVCA High School Coach of the Year in 2012, and Club Director of the Year in 2016. He is a member of the Assumption Hall of Fame, Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, and now the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
"His character is his most outstanding attribute," said Assumption High School Athletic Director Angela Passafiume. "He knows how to be tough to get the best out of the students he works with daily, yet he is compassionate and empathizes with their struggles. He is masterful as he often motivates and empathizes in the same sentence."
RICH KERN
There are over 1,300 NCAA and NAIA women's volleyball teams playing on any given Saturday, and Rich Kern gathers every result and, within hours, uploads it to RichKern.com. As the owner and operator of the website, Kern has become an essential partner to women's volleyball coaches across every division and to the AVCA.
As a lifelong University of Nebraska fan, Kern took a volunteer position with the Cornhusker volleyball program in 1995 with the goal of developing a dedicated fan website, one of only seven in the world at that time. Over time the website morphed beyond Nebraska into a results database that houses results of all women's college matches, several ranking systems, an open dates portal, and even a recruiting database. It was then that RichKern.com was born. The iconic site still has a 'no frills' look, but coaches do not mind, it has the data they want.
The website has been recognized by Sports Illustrated and Volleyball Magazine as a top volleyball website in the nation as it continues to assist coaches, players, fans, and SID's.
"The work is both tireless and exhausting," said former University of Nebraska Head Coach Terry Pettit. "I do not know of any coach who does not check the website several times each day during the season. Because of Rich's consistently accurate information he is beloved in the volleyball community."