Suzie Fritz: the driving force behind KSU’s success – Coach’s profile
The Kansas State women’s volleyball programme has experienced a great boom in the last eight seasons and the driving force behind the success of the program has been Suzie Fritz, the head coach. During all these years, Fritz established herself as one of
the most successful coaches in the nation. She put up great effort to make the Wildcats one of the top teams in the country. She helped the team to qualify for the
seven NCAA Tournaments. Currently, the team is playing at the 2011 edition of the tournament and has clawed its way to the influential third round. And this is all because of the constant support of Head Coach Suzie Fritz that the Wildcats are running
the show with such brilliance.
Back in the day, Fritz became a part of the K-State as the interim head coach after Jim McLaughlin left the program in 2001. The very next year, she was named the program's permanent head coach. She took the charge from McLaughlin after serving as his top
assistant four years and led the K-State to the first-ever conference title in 2003. Over the years, Fritz has compiled an overall record of 171-79, which is the highest winning percentage for any Kansas State volleyball coach.
On the whole, she has spent 11 seasons with K-State as a staff member and has seen nine All-Americans, 16 All-Region performers and 36 all-conference awards. Fritz has really taken the Wildcats to the new heights of success.
The other staff members of Kansas Volleyball appreciate the hard work of Fritz and clearly acknowledge her charismatic skills. She has indeed established herself as one of the leaders in her field. Recently, the volleyball expert Carl McGown complimented Fritz
in the following manner. He stated: "Suzie is one of the great coaches in our country. What she has accomplished at K-State is remarkable, but not surprising when you know how talented and devoted she is. She understands how to teach, she is creative and she
is great with her team."
Moreover, the head coach of US Women’s National Volleyball team Hugh McCutcheon said: "Suzie is a wonderful coach. She knows the game and she knows how to teach it."
The Wildcats, under the visionary leadership of Fritz, worked out a great name and emerged as one of the top performing teams in the nation. K-State earned its seventh straight AVCA Team Academic Award in 2007 under the supervision of Fritz. The AVCA award
is normally given to high-performance teams, which maintain a cumulative 3.30 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale.
Apart from her regular job as the head coach of K-State, she has served in other roles of honour as well. She was selected as a keynote speaker at the AVCA National Convention in 2008, where she presented various aspects of the game. She was also appointed
to the USA Women's National Volleyball A2 Team in 2006.
In 2009, she was again selected to the staff for the A2 program, this time as a head of operations.
Suzie Fritz is known as a great figure in volleyball in USA. She has become a definition for other volleyball coaches. She has been quite successful and seems determined to serve the Wildcats for few more years of success. Wish her all the best.
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