After three seasons at Illinois State, associate head volleyball coach Dawn Sullivan is returning to her Big 12 Conference roots by joining the Iowa State volleyball staff under new head coach Christy Johnson.
Then known as Dawn Cady, she was the first volleyball all-American as a player at Kansas State in 1999 and played a year of professional volleyball in the United States Professional Volleyball League before joining Sharon Dingmans staff at Illinois State in 2002.
While at Illinois State, Sullivan helped insure the continued success of Redbird volleyball with her recruiting, teaching and administrative skills. The 2003 recruiting class featured Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year
Savannah Knowles. The 2004 group included All-Missouri Valley Newcomer Team member
Kari Staehlin.
On the court, Sullivan helped the Redbird record improve from 14-16 in 2002 to 19-14 in 2003 and 22-9 in 2004 as Illinois State continued to be the only Missouri Valley Conference team with a winning conference record each season. Illinois State faced 12 nationally ranked opponents in the past three seasons.
Sharon Dingman values what Sullivan contributed to Illinois State.
Dawns passion for the game inspired our players, said Dingman. We were fortunate to have her for three yearsshe turned down other opportunities, including head coaching opportunities, to stay at Illinois State. Now, she will be closer to her home and back to her roots in the Big 12.
At Illinois State, Sullivans leadership initiated the Point, Illinois State Club to service and enhance fan interest, helping the Redbirds continue their ranking among the top five in the nation in total home attendance over the past decade. She also orchestrated the largest reunion of Redbird volleyball players in the programs history (more than one-third of the letterwinners from the past 25 years were present). Most recently, she led the revival of the Redbird volleyball post-season banquet with more than 120 guests celebrating the teams 2004 success.
Sullivan enjoyed her time at Illinois State.
It has been a great experience and taught me a lot of things about coaching and relating to people, said Sullivan, who is associate head coach at Iowa State. Sharon is a great head coach who has given me the opportunity to do a lot of things. I appreciate all she has taught me in the process.
Johnson is a former Nebraska all-American player who served on the staff of former Illinois State assistant coach Pete Waite at Wisconsin before being named at Iowa State. A native of Marshall, Minn., the 26-year-old Sullivan joins Johnson and fellow assistant Joe Lynch on the new Cyclone staff. They have a daunting task aheadIowa State has won just 59 matches in the past nine seasons and plays in a conference that regularly includes five teams ranked in the nations top 25.
With assistant coach Jenny Kabbes already on board, Dingman will be adding to the Redbird volleyball staff in the coming weeks.
