Head Coach Kate Witte

Kate Witte enters her 18th season as head volleyball coach at Ohio Northern University.

During her 17 years at ONU, Witte has guided the Polar Bears to an impressive 425-140 record (.752 winning percentage), 13 Ohio Athletic Conference regular season titles, nine OAC tournament championships, 14 NCAA Division III tournament bids, seven NCAA Division III tournament Sweet 16 appearances and three Elite 8 appearances.

Last season, ONU posted a 29-7 record, won the OAC regular season and tournament titles, and made its eighth straight NCAA III Tournament appearance.

Witte won her 400th match at ONU on Sept. 2, 2006 against Carnegie Mellon (Pa.).

Witte has been named OAC Volleyball Coach of the Year in ’91, ’94, ’96, ’97 and ’02 and the AVCA Regional Coach of the Year in ’94, ’96, ’97 and '03.

The Polar Bears have posted an impressive 1,066 victories in the 51 seasons of ONU volleyball. Without a doubt, Witte has been a major part of that continuing success and has established herself as one of the nation’s top coaches.

In addition to coaching, she also serves as ONU’s senior women’s administrator, the NCAA Great Lakes Region representative, an assistant professor in the ONU department of health, physical education and sport studies and is one of the department’s most respected and knowledgeable educators.

She is also the director for ONU’s annual summer volleyball camps, has served as the Chair of the Great Lakes region, on the NCAA regional ranking, and All-Region and All-America selection committees.

Witte came to ONU from Iowa State University, where she had been a temporary instructor of health studies in the department of physical education and leisure studies and the coach for the men's volleyball club team for two years.

From 1982-87, she taught health and physical education on the elementary and high school levels in Iowa and was the head varsity volleyball coach at St. Albert High School.

In 1989 Witte obtained her master’s degree from Indiana University in school health education. While at Indiana she served as an associate instructor and graduate assistant to the women's volleyball program.

NCAA Winningest Active Coaches

No. Coach, School % 1. Larry Bock, Juniata (Pa.) .862 2. Jim Spagle, Cal St. East Bay .789 3. Jennifer McDowell, Emory (Ga.) .779 4. Bryan Snyder, Washington & Lee (Va.) .770 5. Michele Benoit, Mt. St. Joseph .770 6. Kate Witte, Ohio Northern .755 7. Janet Donovan, Ithaca (N.Y.) .739 8. Dorothy Webb, Wellesley (Mass.) .739 9. Rich Luenemann, Washington (Mo.) .738 10. Paul Dill, M.I.T. .735

Assistant Coach
Jacque Strahley

Assistant Coach
Dr. Brian Hofman

Jacque Strahley is in her 16th year as a volunteer assistant coach for ONU.

She serves as the setter position coach in Witte's staff.

Under her tutelage the Bears have produced All-Region setters nine out of the past 11 years and an All-OAC setter each of the last 11 years, including two-time AVCA All-American and OAC Player of the Year Brandi Stover, the only setter ever to be named Player of the Year in the OAC.

She graduated from ONU in 1985 after a standout career in volleyball, earning first team All-OAC and All-Ohio honors her senior year.

She also was a standout basketball and tennis player at Ohio Northern.

She ranks seventh in the all-time list for assists with 580, all during the 1984 season, the first year assists were kept as an official statistic.

In basketball, Jacque holds a school record with 483 points in a single season. She also ranks sixth on the ONU all-time scoring list with 1,015 points from 1981-85.

She once scored 32 points in a single game.

Prior to joining the ONU coaching staff, she spent seven very successful seasons as the head volleyball coach for Indian Lake High School.

She currently teaches in the science department at Indian Lake, and holds a master's degree in sports management.

Jacque was inducted into Ohio Northern's Athletic Hall of Fame in February of 1999.

Dr. Brian Hofman enters his 16th season as an assistant volleyball coach at Ohio Northern.

He serves as the middle hitter position coach and is a key reason ONU has had an All-Region middle hitter seven out of the last ten years and an All-OAC middle hitter ten out of the last 11 years.

He was a standout volleyball player for the Iowa State University men's volleyball club team during his undergraduate studies, which cumulated in a bachelor's degree in 1993.

Hofman led the Cyclones to two top 10 finishes in the men's collegiate club national tournament. He was a Midwest Intercollegiate All-Conference selection his junior year.

He has also received the United States Volleyball Association's honorable mention leader in volleyball award for his service to the USVBA.

He earned his master's degree from Bowling Green State University in recreational management in 1995 and his his doctoral degree in higher education at the University of Toledo in 2004.

At ONU, he serves as junior varsity coach, Assistant Athletics Director and is an Associate Professor in the department of Human Performances and Sports Sciences.

Hofman also organized and coaches the men's volleyball club at ONU. He led the Polar Bears to seven top 10 finishes in National Small College Club Volleyball Championships, including the national championship in 2007.