Katie Schumacher-Cawley
Episode 400
5 OCT 2026
She is the head women’s volleyball coach at Penn State University, in her fifth season in that position. She is a national champion as a player (1999) and then two years ago became the first female head coach to lead a team to an NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball title. That same season she announced publicly a breast cancer diagnosis. A two-time All-American at Penn State, she took over the head coaching reigns after spending four seasons as an assistant. Before returning to Penn State as an assistant coach in 2018, she spent eight seasons as the head coach at UIC and one season at Penn. She has been inducted into multiple halls of fame. And in high school she led her team to state and national titles in volleyball.
Notable guest quotes:
“On the South side of Chicago, I grew up in the St. Cajetan parish.”
“I felt the love and I felt the prayers from people all over the country, but especially from that area with Mass cards and holy water and just the constant letters and scriptures that I enjoyed reading every day. I felt the love and growing up in the church and the Catholic community, the power of prayer is really strong.”
“I have a couple boxes I kept of all the cards and letters and prayer cards and Mass cards and I often go back and look at that and I’m so grateful for the amount of love that came my way, but just a reminder that a little note, a little Mass card like that goes a long way.”
“I have a medal of Mary, my former teammate, Solena (Quick) Porras who lives in New Jersey, brought me this when I first announced I was sick and she came up to a match. And… it’s a beautiful gold Mary medal and I never take it off and I love it.”
“I definitely say extra prayers for myself on (NIL) to be able to continue to have patience … but also… it is a big business and being a part of women’s athletics and having these women have these experiences to not only get paid, but to have a platform to represent certain things that they really care about. I’m really happy to be able to be a part of it, but I do find calm in prayer and calm in attending Mass where I don’t have my cell phone… those are the moments for me that I can really reflect and know that I can be at peace and enjoy where I’m at and be really present.”
“I’m here to coach them, but, for me, I’m so proud of them for the degrees that they’re getting and what they’re doing. There is pro volleyball now, but very few will do it. And, I want them to have the careers that they’re going to school for, help them find a path.”
“We live in a great community here and one that’s, it’s a college town. It’s pretty special, but people do a lot of help for the sick and the homeless and the hungry. And so, I am proud to live in this town and the community that is constantly giving.”
“Father Tom Hurley … was just pivotal in my faith … he just spoke in a way that made it easy and soft on your heart, and I really enjoy him and everything that he has done for me and my girls and my family.”
“My parents, between myself, my sister and my two brothers, they put us through Catholic schools since kindergarten and through 12th grade. And we were very fortunate to have that experience and I have 12 nieces and nephews that are in Catholic school now all throughout the South Side in high school and elementary school.”
“The players here, I think see that there’s bigger things in life and that they want to be able to help those in need and to also know that life moves so fast.”
“I want players that want to be part of something super special and be able to give back to the community.”
Related link:
Katie’s bio on Penn State website