Carolyn Condit Position: Head Coach

Without the loss of any starters and just two lost letterwinners, head coach Carolyn Condit and the RedHawks look forward to the beginning of the 2007 season, hoping to resume the team chemistry that solidified itself toward the end of the 2006 campaign. With the addition of talented newcomers, Condit has all intentions of striving towards a MAC Championship in the 2007 season.

Miami returns a strong senior class in second-team All-MAC selection, Carli Reihman and Jeanna Staun. Together, these seniors, combined, have played in an impressive 657 games during their three-year stint. Reihman alone has started every match except one during her career and has collected nine all-tournament team awards, including four from the 2006 season.

Leading the junior class is first-team All-MAC member, Emily Schroeder. Schroeder became Miami's first first-team All-MAC selection since Kelly McCullough captured the honor in 2001 and the first sophomore to capture the award since Lori Reinart in 1994. She also finished second on the single-season kills list with 494, not far from Angel Miller's record of 527 set in 1991.

With five MAC titles, five NCAA Tournament appearances, four MAC Players of the Year and four MAC Coach of the Year honors under the direction of Condit, the Miami volleyball program has proven to be one of the consistent powers in the Mid-American Conference. As one of the most prolific coaches in the MAC, Condit and her staff continue their quest to keep Miami among the elite programs in the conference and region.

Success is synonymous with Condit, who embarks on her 24th season guiding the Miami program. She is the winningest volleyball coach in Miami history and owns a Mid-American Conference mark of 222-135. She also ranks nationally among all-time and active Division I coaches in number of career wins with 512 over her 27-year coaching career.

Condit has compiled a 413-310 overall record at Miami, winning her 400th Miami match in the final contest of the 2005 season in a 3-1 triumph at Dayton on Nov. 26. Condit, who also boasts a 518-384 career mark, achieved her 500th career win against Centenary, the first contest of the 2006 season, on Aug. 25. This achievement places Condit in an elite group of coaches nation-wide who have reached the 500-win plateau.

For all of her dedication and success at Miami, Condit was inducted into Miami's Athletic Hall of Fame in January of 2002.

A Winning Tradition
While success in athletics is defined by numbers--wins and losses--Condit has developed an effective formula in making Miami's program a winner in all aspects.

Over the past 23 seasons, Condit and her teams have enjoyed a great deal of success. Miami has finished among the conference's top three 11 times and placed first or second eight times. Two of Condit's first three Miami teams--the 1985 and '86 squads--placed second in the MAC, but it was not until her sixth season at the helm (1990) that her team seized the coveted MAC title.

Thirteen of Condit's teams advanced at least to the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals from when it was re-instituted in 1987 until it was expanded to include all member schools in 2003. Seven of her Miami teams have advanced to the conference tournament championship match, with three collecting titles.

Fifteen of her teams have accrued winning records, including seven above the .700 mark. Seventeen squads have compiled MAC records above .500 with seven registering an .800 winning percentage or better.

With as much success as Condit's teams have achieved, quite possibly her greatest successes are the exceptional assistant coaches she hires, and the "family" Condit has built as the leader of the Miami program.

"Miami is an outstanding university with excellent facilities, but what really makes the Miami volleyball program exceptional is the coaching staff. They are teachers as well as coaches. They set high standards and expectations, both academically and athletically," says Dave Hales, father of former Miami standout Jamie Hales (`99).

"Miami recruits families," Hales continues. "Family members are not only invited, but encouraged to participate in the Miami volleyball program. We enjoyed that camaraderie as much as we enjoyed watching our daughter compete."

A Decade Of Dominance
The decade of the 1990s was favorable for Condit. Five teams wore the MAC crown (1990, '95, '96, '97, '98), while her teams advanced to postseason competition seven of those years, including five jaunts into the NCAA Tournament. For her efforts, Condit earned MAC Coach of the Year accolades four times (1990, '92, '96, '98).

Her 1998 squad produced the best season in the program's history, winning the school's fourth consecutive Mid-American Conference Championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. The 1998 RedHawks won the program's first NCAA Tournament match in a 3-0 domination of Nevada.

During a four-year span, Miami earned two automatic and two at-large invitations to the NCAA Tournament. In 1996 and 1998, the Red and White automatically qualified by winning the MAC Tournament. The 1997 team earned Miami's second at-large berth, while the 1995 squad became the first in MAC volleyball history to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Both teams captured the regular-season conference title.

Prior to its four-year stint in the NCAA Tournament, Miami enjoyed two appearances in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Tournament. The 1994 squad advanced to the NIVC after finishing the MAC Tournament as the runner-up. In 1991, again runner-up at the MAC Tournament, Miami reached the semifinals of the NIVC Tournament before ending its tournament stint with a 1-3 loss to Notre Dame and posting a 26-12 mark for the season.

The 1990's also produced three consecutive MAC Player of the Year recipients for Miami. Only two other MAC schools can boast such a string of success. Karen Lepley, the 1988 MAC Player of the Year, was Miami's only recipient until Lori Reinart emerged to claim the conference's highest individual honor in 1996. Jessica Stout followed in 1997, and Alissia Thompson earned the award in 1998.

Constructing Success Upon An Established Tradition
As successful as Condit has been during her tenure at Miami, she is mindful of her predecessors' achievements and devotes her efforts to continue building upon the foundation of success they constructed.

"The tradition of our program has been one of great success as far back as the early `80s when the teams set the precedent of winning MAC Championships and making NCAA Tournament appearances. Thanks to so many former committed and talented athletes, we've really been motivated to build on their success and keep the tradition alive."

Condit's teams added three MAC Tournament titles in 1990, '96 and '98 to those captured in 1980 and '81, which were the first years of the conference tournament. Miami squads also have made nine MAC Tournament Championship appearances over the last 26 years.

A Commitment To Academic Success
Condit, whose program has boasted superior graduation rates during her tenure, is credited with building the Miami program into a winner both on and off the court.

Keeping academics a top priority for the volleyball team is an important part of Condit's winning philosophy. Her student-athletes take great pride in their academic achievements and often are among the leaders at Miami in grade-point average. Numerous times during Condit's tenure the volleyball squad has attained the highest term grade-point average of Miami athletic teams. The Miami volleyball team has also ranked nationally among Division I schools, earning the AVCA Team Academic Award.

In Condit's 23 years at Miami, the program has produced 24 All-MAC performers, who won 53 conference awards, with 24 student-athletes receiving 37 academic all-MAC awards.

Virginia Heineman ('85), Kathy and Wendy Tepe ('87) and Jessica Stout ('97) brought national recognition to Miami through their selection to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team, while Tara Buroker (`04), Jill Homrig ('90), Kathy Whalen ('91) and Stout each earned first-team CoSIDA academic all-district honors twice.

Condit's Credits
As for individual accolades, Condit received the Coach of the Year Award from the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Women's Sports Association at the Girls' & Women's Sports & Fitness Awards Ceremony in the spring of 1998. She was a Division I National Coach of the Year finalist in 1985 and `86 and was named the North Central Region Coach of the Year in 1986.

Condit received her bachelor of science degree from the College of Mount St. Joseph in her hometown of Cincinnati in 1976. She led her collegiate volleyball team to the national tournament as its setter and also participated in four years of basketball and one year of track.

Following her graduation, she spent three years teaching and coaching at the high school level before accepting the assistant coaching position at Indiana University, where she earned her master's degree. Prior to her years at Miami, she assumed the head duties at Xavier University, guiding the Musketeers to a 99-80 mark in four years and upgrading their program from Division III to Division I status.