Kolby O’Donnell was named the eighth head coach of the LMU Women’s Volleyball program in February 2025.
With the assistance of O'Donnell, the Lions wrapped up the 2024 season with an outstanding 25-6 overall record and a dominant 16-2 mark in conference play, earning multiple WCC honors.
Head Coach Trent Kersten was named WCC Coach of the Year, while Sam Hastings and Mia Schafer took home Libero of the Year and Setter of the Year awards, respectively. Schafer, Hastings, Paige Flickinger, and Sophia Meyers were named to the All-Conference First Team, with Flickinger also earning AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention recognition.
A defining moment of the season came when LMU swept top-ranked San Diego, with each match stretching to five sets. The Lions also swept Pepperdine, marking the first time since 1996 that LMU defeated both teams in the same season. Additionally, the Lions secured a victory over ranked SMU, their first win against a top-ranked opponent since defeating UCLA on Sept. 8, 2022.
Capping off their stellar season, LMU claimed the 2024 WCC Championship—their first conference title since 1996—and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Lions advanced to the second round for the first time since 2018 after defeating Washington in the opening round before facing Stanford. Adding to their dominance, LMU finished the season undefeated at home.
During the 2023 season, O’Donnell assumed the role of associate head coach under Trent Kersten for the LMU women's volleyball program, contributing to a successful campaign and fostering excitement for the upcoming season.
The Lions wrapped up the season with an outstanding 20-6 overall record and an impressive 13-3 WCC record, marking their first 20-win season since 2018.
O’Donnell also coached Jacqueline Moore, who led the NCAA in hitting percentage and was the only player in the country to record a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage on over 10 attempts in a match (12 kills on 12 swings against Montana). Moore also earned AVCA regional honors. The Lions achieved a milestone by sweeping the San Diego Toreros for the second consecutive year.
LMU finished the season ranked ninth in the nation for opponent hitting efficiency (holding opponents to a .154 hitting percentage) and 16th nationally in overall hitting efficiency at .281. Under O’Donnell’s guidance, four players—Kari Geissberger, Sam Hastings, Michelle Shaffer, and Jacqueline Moore—earned All-WCC honors.
Under O’Donnell's defensive strategies, the Lions secured the second position in the WCC for blocks, amassing a total of 242. His coaching techniques also propelled Moore to claim the second spot in blocks within the WCC.
Before coming to LMU, O'Donnell was the Associate Head coach and recruiting Coordinator at Texas A&M University for five seasons.
While in College Station, O’Donnell aided in the development of three AVCA All-Americans, multiple AVCA All-South region honorees, and numerous All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman selections. In the 2019 season, he assisted head coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn in her campaign to become the 2019 SEC Coach of the Year while guiding the Aggies to a 23-8 season record.
Prior to Texas A&M, O’Donnell spent the 2017 season at Louisville, where he made an immediate impact and helped the Cardinals not only double their number of wins from the previous season, but also helped guide them to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a return to the NCAA Tournament.
Louisville was coming off a 12-18 season, including a 7-13 ACC record, before O’Donnell joined the Cardinals’ coaching staff prior to the 2017 season. O’Donnell helped spearhead the program’s impressive turnaround, which included an 11-match winning streak to close out the regular season to clinch a share of the ACC championship with an 18-2 record. Louisville, the only ACC team to complete the season undefeated at home, finished 24-7 after falling to Northern Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
Individually, Louisville first-year head coach Dani Busboom Kelly was named the AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. In addition, the Cardinals’ junior setter Wilma Rivera and junior libero Molly Sauer were named ACC setter and defensive player of the year, respectively. Rivera also collected honorable mention All-America distinction from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, and she was joined on the All-ACC first team by teammate Melanie McHenry, a sophomore outside hitter.
Before joining the Louisville staff, O'Donnell spent four seasons at UC Santa Barbara, serving as the top assistant coach for head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch, who made him her first hire when she took over the program in 2013. In addition to serving as the defensive coordinator, O’Donnell was UCSB’s recruiting coordinator and played a pivotal role in securing three top-30 recruiting classes over four years. The Gauchos’ 2015 recruiting class was ranked No. 18, marking the highest ranking in program history.
O'Donnell, who mainly worked with the outside hitters, opposites, liberos, and middle blockers, helped guide UCSB to a Big West Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in his first year with the team. Lantagne Welch was named the 2013 Big West Conference Coach of the Year, and outside hitter Ali Spindt was named Freshman of the Year. Senior outside hitter Leah Sully and freshman middle blocker Phoebe Grunt also collected all-conference honors as the Gauchos (18-11, 13-3 BWC) won their first conference title since 2005 and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2009.
In 2014, O’Donnell helped junior outside hitter Ali Barbeau capture All-Big West first-team accolades, and freshman outside hitter Chanel Hoffman and Spindt, who switched to the libero position due to an injury, both earned honorable mention.
Junior middle blocker Phoebe Grunt earned all-conference recognition and libero Emilia Petrachi was selected to the All-Freshman Team following the 2015 season, and in 2016 freshman outside hitter Lindsey Ruddins was named Big West Freshman of the Year and garnered conference first-team honors. In addition, Hoffman and senior middle blocker Elizabeth Sheffield received honorable mention, and freshman middle blocker Rowan Ennis was selected to the league’s all-freshman team as the Gauchos added nine wins to their total from the previous season to close out the year at 17-12, 8-8.
O'Donnell had also served as an assistant for Lantagne Welch in 2012 at the University of Miami, where he helped the Hurricanes to a 25-6 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In one of the program's most notable seasons in school history, Lantagne Welch and O'Donnell directed Miami to a program-record 17 conference wins to finish within one match of an ACC championship.
Miami dominated the 2012 conference awards with six Hurricanes named to the All-ACC Team and Lantagne Welch collecting ACC Coach of the Year accolades. Five players garnered AVCA All-East Region accolades, and Lantagne Welch was honored as the region coach of the year. Furthermore, Emani Sims, a sophomore middle blocker, became the second AVCA All-American in program history, earning third-team honors after hitting .328 and averaging 1.39 blocks and 2.48 kills per set.
Preceding his stint at Miami, O'Donnell was on the staff at Appalachian State, serving as assistant coach from 2008-10 and associate head coach in 2011-12. O'Donnell also served as recruiting coordinator for the Mountaineers.
His first coaching stop was at Radford University, where he was an assistant from 2006-08.
O'Donnell had a successful playing career, captaining the Lees-McRae College Bobcats for two of his four years and leading them to a 66-26 record. The middle hitter from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, graduated from Lees-McRae College in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management.
He and his wife, Taukia, have three sons, Remington (Remy), Jameson and Huxley.
