Susan Woodstra

(Redirected from Sue Woodstra)

Susan Jean "Sue" Woodstra (born May 21, 1957) is an American retired volleyball coach and player. As a player, she won a silver medal with the United States women's national volleyball team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Sue Woodstra
Personal information
BornSusan Jean Woodstra
(1957-05-21) May 21, 1957 (age 67)
Colton, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
College / UniversityUniversity of Southern California
Coaching information
Previous teams coached
YearsTeams
1985–1988
1989–1992
1993
1994
1995–1998
1999–2001
2002–2006
2007
2008
2008–2012
Arizona State (assistant)
Pittsburgh
USC München
Notre Dame (volunteer assistant)
California
Florida State (assistant)
Humboldt State
U.S. women's national team
U.S. women's national team (assistant)
Humboldt State
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Number2 (national team)
4 (USC)
Medal record
Women's volleyball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1984 Los Angeles Team
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Peru
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 1983 Caracas Team

Playing days

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At the collegiate level, Woodstra earned All-American honors at USC. She then played eight years on the national team, serving as captain for four years, including for the 1984 Olympic silver medal team.[1] Woodstra also played professional volleyball from 1984 to 1988 for the NEC Red Rockets of the Japan V.League. She also played three season owith the Merrill Lynch/Reebok USVBA team where she earned MVP honors.[1]

Her number 4 hangs on a banner in the volleyball court in USC's Galen Center, along with Tim Hovland's number 10.[2]

Coaching

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Woodstra entered coaching as an assistant at Arizona State in 1995 until she was hired as the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers women's volleyball team in 1989 where she served as head coach until 1992. During her tenure, she led her teams to Big East Conference Tournament Championships in each season as well as three Big East regular season championships, winning the regular season each year from when the Big East instituted round-robin play in 1990. She also led the Panthers to four post-season appearances including one Women's Invitation Volleyball Championship appearance in 1989 in which Pitt finished third, and three NCAA volleyball tournaments, including in 1990 where Pitt reached the regional semifinal and finished ranked 18th in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches poll.[3] Woodstra's earned Big East Coach of the Year honors in 1990. Her NCAA tournament teams were led by standout second team All-American outside hitter Ann Marie Lucanie, who won multiple Big East Tournament MVP awards and Big East Player of the Year awards.[4] In total, Woodstra compiled an overall record of 110–39 (.738) over four seasons as head coach.[5]

After her tenure at Pitt, Woodstra became the head coach of the SC Münster women's profession volleyball team in Münster, Germany, and led the team to a CEV Cup championship in 1992. She then served as a volunteer assistant coach at Notre Dame for one season before taking over as the head coach of University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears volleyball team from 1995 to 1998. In 1999, Woodstra was hired as an assistant coach at Florida State before serving as the head coach of Humboldt State University Lumberjacks from 2002 to 2012.[1]

Woodstra took a leave of absence from coaching at Humboldt State in 2007 and the beginning of 2008 in order to serve as the head coach of U.S. women's national volleyball team in 2007 and an assistant coach during the 2008 Olympics. In 2007, she led the team to a bronze medal at the Pan American games.[1] Woostra served as the first assistant coach for the silver-medal winning U.S. Olympic women's team in 2008.[6] She retired from coaching at Humboldt State in 2012.[7]

Woodstra was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Sheppard, Sammi, ed. (2012). Humboldt State 2012 Volleyball Guide. Humboldt State Sports Information Office. pp. 6–7. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "Sue Woodstra, 2021". Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 23, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Final Poll Records Book" (PDF). AVCA. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  4. ^ Duck, Sophia, ed. (2009). Pitt Women's Volleyball 2009 Media Guide. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. pp. 58–59. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  5. ^ Duck, Sophia, ed. (2009). Pitt Women's Volleyball 2009 Media Guide. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. p. 57. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "Sue Woodstra". Sports-reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. 2016. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Sheppard, Sammi (November 28, 2012). "HSU Volleyball Coach Woodstra announces retirement". Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
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