Katie Schumacher-Cawley was named the third head coach in the history of Penn State Women's Volleyball on Jan. 10, 2022 and made history of her own in just her third season at the helm of the program. Already a national champion as a player on the Nittany Lions' first championship team in 1999, Schumacher-Cawley added a national title as a coach after leading the 2024 team to the championship with a 3-1 win over Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. She became the first female head coach to lead a team to an NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball title.
The 2024 championship run was nothing short of magical as Penn State went 35-2, won its first Big Ten title since 2017, hosted and won a regional at Rec Hall for the first time since 2017, and went on to win the program's eighth national title overall and the first since 2014. Fueled by one of the best crowds in the nation, the Nittany Lions went a perfect 20-0 at Rec Hall, including four wins in the national tournament. All of this came during a season in which Schumacher-Cawley announced publicly a breast cancer diagnosis in October.
A two-time All-American at Penn State, Schumacher-Cawley took over the program after spending four seasons as an assistant under legendary head coach Russ Rose. She enters her fourth season as the team's head coach in 2025.
Penn State advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Schumacher-Cawley's first three seasons as head coach at her alma mater, helping the program extend its streak to 44 consecutive appearances. The Nittany Lions advanced to the Regional Semifinal in each of the first two seasons before breaking through with the title in 2024. The championship run included a reverse sweep over No. 3 Nebraska in the National Semifinal in a match Penn State trailed 22-16 in the fourth set before coming back to win 28-26.
In Schumacher-Cawley's first three seasons as head coach at Penn State, the Nittany Lions have had players earn six All-America honors, nine all-region accolades and 11 All-Big Ten awards, including nine first-team selections. They were ranked all 48 weeks of the AVCA Coaches Poll while posting an overall record of 84-19 for a .816 winning percentage.
The Nittany Lions have been tough to beat on their home floor at Rec Hall in Schumacher-Cawley's three seasons, going 48-5 during that time. Included in those wins were a four-set win over Nebraska to clinch a share of the 2024 Big Ten title and a five-set win over Creighton to advance to the 2024 National Semifinal.
Before returning to Penn State as an assistant coach in 2018, Schumacher-Cawley spent eight seasons as the head coach at UIC and one season at Penn. During the 2017 season at Penn, Schumacher-Cawley led the Quakers to a 12-11 record, while going 7-7 in Ivy League play. The seven wins in the Ivy League were the most by a Penn head coach in their first year. She also guided the Quakers to notable conference wins, including defeating Yale for the first time since 2010.
Prior to her tenure at Penn, Schumacher-Cawley spent 14 years coaching at UIC, including eight as the head coach (2009-16). She recorded 113 wins as the Flames’ head coach, which is third on the program’s all-time list, and oversaw UIC's run to the Horizon League Championship match and a runner-up finish in 2012.
While at UIC, she mentored a two-time Horizon League Player of the Year in Stephanee Yancy (2014 & 2015), along with 11 All-Horizon League selections and three Horizon League All-Newcomer Team recipients.
A 2002 graduate of Penn State, Schumacher-Cawley helped lead the Nittany Lions to the 1999 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, the program’s first national title, and three Big Ten Conference crowns during her career. She was a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American, three-time All-Big Ten selection and three-time AVCA All-Region selection. Schumacher ended her career with 1,310 kills, 772 digs and 299 blocks. Schumacher-Cawley also played for the Lady Lion Basketball team in 2001-02.
A Chicago native, Schumacher-Cawley played volleyball and basketball at Mother McAuley High School and led the Mighty Macs to state and national titles in volleyball. She was inducted into both the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) Hall of Fame 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, she 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 part of a class that also included 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 earned her bachelor's degree in communications from Penn State in May 2002. She is married to Mike Cawley, who was a James Madison University football student-athlete from 1993-95 and a sixth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1996 NFL Draft, and they have three daughters, Stella, Nora and Shea.
KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY COACHING TIMELINE
2022-current - Penn State (Head Coach)
2018-21 - Penn State (Assistant Coach)
2017 - Penn (Head Coach)
2009-16 - UIC (Head Coach)
2003-08 - UIC (Assistant Coach)
KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY RECORD
| Year | School | Record | Postseason |
| 2009 | UIC | 16-18 | Horizon League Semifinal |
| 2010 | UIC | 13-18 | Horizon League Quarterfinal |
| 2011 | UIC | 14-15 | Horizon League Quarterfinal |
| 2012 | UIC | 19-13 | Horizon League Final |
| 2013 | UIC | 9-21 | |
| 2014 | UIC | 14-17 | Horizon League Quarterfinal |
| 2015 | UIC | 12-19 | |
| 2016 | UIC | 16-14 | |
| 2017 | Penn | 12-11 | |
| 2022 | Penn State | 26-8 | NCAA Regional Semifinal |
| 2023 | Penn State | 23-9 | NCAA Regional Semifinal |
| 2024 | Penn State | 35-2 | NCAA CHAMPION |
| Career Record: | 209-165 | NCAA Tournament Record: 10-2 | |
| PSU Record: | 84-19 | NCAA Tournament Record: 10-2 |