McConnell, Kathy

KATHY MCCONNELL

Kathy McConnell’s coaching career at Lorain Catholic High School was a special one especially since she graduated from Lorain Catholic in 1978 and was able to come back and coach at her alma mater. Kathy has always had a passion for sports from her youth into adulthood. While a student at Lorain Catholic, she was a 3-year letter winner on the volleyball team and MVP her senior year and a 4-year letter winner on the basketball team and MVP her junior year. After graduating from Lorain Catholic, she attended Lorain County Community College (1979, 1980) and she played on the women’s volleyball team for two years and the women’s basketball team for one year. Kathy played collegiate volleyball for two years (1981, 1982) at Youngstown State University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Combined Social Science.

For Kathy, it was a thrill to come back to LC to help out with the volleyball program. She was fortunate enough to take over the Varsity team at a time when the program was really starting to grow. She began coaching the Spartans JV volleyball team at her alma mater in 1988 and then became the Head Varsity Volleyball Coach in 1991. Coach McConnell coached for 13 years, and her varsity record was 225 wins and 88 losses in 13 seasons at the helm of the Spartan volleyball team. During her coaching career, her teams won a Sectional Title every year, three District Titles, one Regional Title, and State Runner-Up.

Kathy’s coaching awards include the following:

2004 Induction into the Lorain County Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame
2001 District III Volleyball Coaches Association — Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity Award
1995 Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association — Achievement Award, Division IV
District 3 Coach of the Year, Division IV
1994 District 3 Coach of the Year, Division IV
Plain Dealer Volleyball Coach of the Year
Numerous Lorain County Division IV Coach of the Year Awards

Over her 13 years of coaching, she had the privilege to coach outstanding groups of student-athletes. Her players were good team leaders, intelligent and worked hard both in the classroom and on the volleyball court. The 1993 team that she coached compiled a record of 18 wins and 3 losses and were District Runner-Up. The 1994 team was State Runner-Up finishing with a 26-1 record, and the 1994 team was inducted into the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Kathy is proud to join some of her volleyball players and her 1994 State Runner-Up Volleyball Team in the Hall of Fame. Kathy earned her degree at Youngstown State University and is the Human Resource Manager at Positive Education Program in Cleveland, Ohio.