Gonzaga volleyball's first season under Head Coach Katie Wilson begins this weekend with a pair of power-conference opponents at the Oklahoma Invitational in Norman, Okla., with the Bulldogs set to square off with Iowa and Oklahoma on Friday before facing Florida International on Saturday.
 

SCOUTING THE FIELD

GONZAGA VS. IOWA - Aug. 26, 10 a.m. PST

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GONZAGA VS. OKLAHOMA - Aug. 26, 5 p.m. PST

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GONZAGA VS. FIU - Aug. 27, 10 a.m. PST

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GU faced the Sooners for the first time ever last season at home, falling in straight sets as their only loss of the GU Invitational. The Bulldogs have also only faced FIU once, a 3-set win in 2005. They've never played Iowa before.

Katie Wilson takes the reigns

In January, Wilson was named GU's eighth-ever women's volleyball head coach after having spent the last seven seasons at the University of Notre Dame. In 2018, she was elevated to Associate Head Coach for the Fighting Irish. She has spent five of the last six seasons with setting, passing, outside hitters and offensive coordinator as her primary coaching responsibility. 

"Gonzaga hit a home run hiring Katie Wilson as the next women's volleyball head coach. She always exercises the highest degree of integrity, and she can flat out coach. Katie is smart, invested, hardworking, resilient, and principled. She cares deeply about her players, understands their individual needs, and will help each one of them grow as people and volleyball players. Katie will develop each player by pushing their limits the right way, giving them the knowledge and awareness needed to be successful, and the skills necessary to execute that knowledge."

- Jim McLaughlin, Former Notre Dame Head Coach and national coach of the year at the University of Washington

"We're thrilled for Katie to have the opportunity to lead the Gonzaga volleyball program. The caring she exhibits for her student-athletes, passion for the sport and her determination to continue developing as a coach makes her a great addition to the Bulldogs' family. We wish Katie, her husband, Ryan, and their children, Kira and Jacob, much success in Spokane."

- Notre Dame Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics, Jack Swarbrick         

During her tenure as an assistant coach, Wilson played a major role in the improvement of the Notre Dame program, as the team went from a 7-25 record in 2015 to back-to-back 22-win seasons in 2016 and 2017. In Wilson's seven seasons with the Irish, Notre Dame has reached the NCAA Tournament three times (2017, 2019, 2020).

Wilson also was a U.S. National Team Development Program U-17 and U-18 Coach. She developed and evaluated athletes for the U.S. U-17 and U-18 pipeline during the week-long Summer Training Series Camp held at the USA training facility in Anaheim, Calif. She was a Volunteer Assistant Coach for Team Canada in 2019-20.

Wilson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Puget Sound. A native to the Puget Sound area, Wilson is married to her husband, Ryan, and they have two children, Kira and Jacob.

2021 Recap / The Returners

Last fall's Zags finished 9-20 (5-13 WCC) in Diane Nelson's final year as head coach. GU returns five of its six starters from that squad this year, and was picked to finish eighth in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll. 

Now-senior outside hitter Kennedy Croft earned an All-WCC Honorable Mention nod after leading the team in kills (261) and service aces (34). Croft currently ranks in the Top 10 in program history in single-season aces and career aces. As a team, GU finished the season with 1.7 aces per set, with opponents averaging 1.4.

Croft also cracked double-digit kills in 10 different games for the Bulldogs, doing so in each of GU's last three games. 

The Newcomers

Five newcomers (four freshmen, one transfer) give the Bulldogs three more players on the roster than they had at the end of last fall, with graduate transfer Kelsie White looking to anchor a promising front line that gets back All-WCC middle blocker Alyssa Hughes (injury redshirt in 2021). 

White last appeared for the Bobcats in 2019, when she averaged 1.3 kills and 1.15 blocks per set, finishing nine matches with five blocks or more while ranking fourth in the Big Sky in blocks per set. A three-year starter for MSU, she ranks seventh in program history all-time with 327 block assists, finishing her career there with 485 total kills and 398 total blocks. 

Hughes last appeared in the spring 2021 season, when she started all 18 matches for the Zags, recorded 134 kills on the year and ranked first on the squad with a .328 hitting percentage which ranks second all-time during the rally scoring era.

Four freshmen round out the Zags' group of newcomers — outside hitters Tyra Schaub and Fallon Thompson, setter Hanah Stoddard and middle blocker Autumn Larson. Thompson was rated one of the Top 150 volleyball recruits in her class by PrepVolleyball.Com ahead of this season.

Wilson's Staff at a Glance

Kindra Gillen

Katie Wilson announced the addition of Kindra Gillen to her staff in February bringing in a former All-American with experience with Team USA and at the professional level to help lead the Bulldogs program as her primary assistant.

"Kindra is an excellent teacher who challenges her players to be their best on and off the court," said GU Head Coach Katie Wilson. "She cares deeply about her athletes and their complete experience.  

Gillen joined the Bulldogs after two years at Notre Dame, where she served as an assistant while Wilson was associate head coach for the Fighting Irish. Gillen helped lead the Irish to the NCAA Tournament in 2020, reaching the Round of 32.

Prior to her time in South Bend, ​​Gillen spent a season as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming, where she helped the Cowgirls earn their second consecutive postseason berth for the first time since 1990 and their first 20-win season since 2015. The Eaton, Colo. native also served as an assistant for Liberty University and Nicholls State to begin her collegiate coaching career.

Like Wilson, Gillen has spent plenty of time in the state of Washington, earning All-American and All-Pacific Region honors in her final two seasons as an opposite side hitter at University of Washington, where she graduated with a BA in comparative history of ideas in 2011. 

In her senior year in Seattle, Gillen racked up a career-best 471 kills to lead the Huskies, averaging 4.17 per set to rank fifth in the Pac-10 and 26th in the NCAA. Her name is all over the UW record book, ranking ninth in single season points (553), fifth in career points (1,470), seventh in career points per set (4.22), 10th in career kills (1,251) and ninth in career kills per set (3.59). In all four of Gillen's years at UW, the Huskies reached the NCAA Tournament, culminating in an Elite Eight appearance her senior year.

Drew Choules

Gonzaga volleyball Head Coach Katie Wilson announced the addition of assistant coach Drew Choules to the Bulldogs' coaching staff Tuesday. Choules comes to GU with 13 years of coaching experience, most recently spending the last season as an assistant at Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho.

"During our assistant coach search, we aimed to hire the most qualified coach who was committed to helping our players grow as students, as athletes and as people — We found that person in Drew," Wilson said. "She has great knowledge as a coach while always striving to learn more."

The Southern Idaho native joins Wilson's staff alongside Kindra Gillen and Adrian Leiser.

"I am thrilled to be Zag," Choules said. "I love the vision that Coach Wilson has for this program, and I'm excited to be a part of this staff."

"Coaching at such a respected university like Gonzaga is an honor," she said. "I'm grateful for all the people that have supported me along my journey to get here and I can't wait to dive in and get to work."

Prior to her time at LCSC, Choules was an assistant at the University of Providence (NAIA) in Great Falls, Mont., where she helped lead the Argos to a 91-32 record that culminated in three consecutive appearances at the NAIA National Tournament. UP won the Frontier Conference Tournament Championship in three of her four years as a coach, with the 2018 Argos named Champions of Character at the national tournament.

For her efforts in the Argos' rise to national prominence, Choules was named the Frontier Conference Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019 & 2020 and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Northwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year in those years as well.