Marcie Wolbeck
Marcie Wolbeck

Position:
Head Coach
Alma Mater:
Notre Dame, 2002

After guiding the Ramblers to the Horizon League Tournament title and into the NCAA Tournament in her first season in Rogers Park, head coach Marcie Wolbeck looks to lead a well-balanced Loyola team back up the Horizon League standings in 2010.

The 2010 team features a nice blend of seasoned upperclassmen and talented underclassmen as the Ramblers aim to return to the upper-division of the Horizon League. Senior Colleen Francis is coming off the best season of her career in 2009 while classmate Mallory Curran and junior Natalie Pounovich give Loyola one of the best net tandems in the conference. With freshmen Natalie Fiore and Bridget Nickel joining the program, Wolbeck has a pair of dynamic newcomers at her disposal that should give the Ramblers a diverse and potent attack.

Under Wolbeck's watch, a young Loyola team took several steps forward during the 2008 season, more than doubling its win total from the previous year. The Ramblers racked up 19 wins that season - their most since 2004 - and that progession was part of the foundation that Wolbeck laid in prior seasons, letting her young players gain experience on the court as freshmen. Last season, two Ramblers etched their names into the record book, as Alyse Serritella wrapped up her career in second place on LU's all-time digs list and Dana VanDiggelen became just the 12th player in Loyola history to record 1,000 career kills.

The success in 2008 was a product of the 2007 season, which saw several young Ramblers make a name for themselves while two departing seniors capped their career with a flourish. Melissa Craig set a new single-season blocking mark while Keily Zins wrapped up her career with over 1,000 kills and digs.

The 2006 season was one of the more competitive in Horizon League annals. Riding seniors Courtney Ashley, Ann Deelo and Sarah Elmer, the Ramblers finished the conference season at .500, marking the 18th consecutive year that LU has won at least as many matches as it has lost in conference play. Wolbeck saw Deelo set both the school and Horizon League records for career digs and helped transform Elmer into an All-Horizon League setter.

Wolbeck started her career in Rogers Park on a high note in 2005, as the team pulled together down the stretch to win seven of its last eight matches, including a pair of five-game marathons in the Horizon League Tournament, to earn its fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the process, Wolbeck became just the second coach in Loyola history to guide the Ramblers to the tournament in their first season at the helm.

In her one season in Milwaukee, Wolbeck had a profound effect on the Cardinal Stritch volleyball programs, guiding the women's team to its first-ever appearance in the conference tournament while helping the men's team to a conference title and consistent top-10 appearances in the national rankings. Prior to taking over the reins at Cardinal Stritch, Wolbeck served as the head freshman volleyball coach at Catholic Memorial High School and spent three years as the head coach of the Milwaukee Sting Junior Olympic Volleyball Club.

Her coaching success comes on the heels of an outstanding career as a student-athlete at Notre Dame, where she helped the Fighting Irish to three consecutive BIG EAST regular-season titles (1999-2001), three more BIG EAST Tournament titles (1998, 2000, 2001) and four NCAA Tournament appearances. Wolbeck was named the 1998 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, the only Notre Dame rookie to ever earn that honor, and was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2000. Wolbeck became the 13th Notre Dame player to reach the 1,000-career kill mark, finishing with 1,016 put-aways, and remains the only Wisconsin player to ever don a Fighting Irish volleyball jersey. Upon graduation, she continued her volleyball career overseas, playing one season with Club Voleibol Sant Cugat in Barcelona, Spain.

Wolbeck graduated from Notre Dame in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing and received her MBA with Sport Management concentration from Loyola in May, 2009. Wolbeck and her husband, Matthew, were married in July, 2007 and reside in Chicago with their son, Liam.