In her first two seasons as head coach, Stephanie Burner has guided the California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team to the most wins in school history and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
She enters her third season as head coach of the Vulcans in 2010 with an impressive 76-8 career record (.905). Burner has led the Vulcans to a third-consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships.
In her short time with the program, she has coached three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American setter Renata da Silva and three-time Daktronics Atlantic Region Player of the Year outside hitter Joanna Nist. da Silva, who is now a volunteer assistant with the Vulcans, became the program’s first-ever
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in 2009.
Despite being only in her third season with the program, Burner is quite familiar with the PSAC as she was a four-year starter at rival Edinboro (1999-2002). During her playing career, the Fighting Scots posted an 87-41 overall record (.680) and earned four NCAA Tournament berths, highlighted by a quarterfinals appearance during her senior season.
A native of Pittsburgh, Burner started her coaching career at Bellwood Antis High School and led the team to two-straight Mountain Conference titles and a 41-6 record in two seasons. The Blue Devils also advanced to the PIAA state playoffs for the first time in school history in 2004 before repeating the feat in 2005.
The following year, Burner accepted an assistant coaching position with the University of North Alabama and helped guide the Lions to an appearance in the National Championship match. After starting the season 7-5, UNA mounted a 28-match win streak to advance to the title game after winning the Gulf South Conference and South Central Regional Tournaments.
Burner served as the Lions’ recruiting coordinator and worked with the team’s defensive players and outside hitters.
During her collegiate career, Burner was a record-setting outside hitter while playing for Edinboro. She helped the Fighting Scots post three 20-win seasons and advance to the PSAC Championship match in four-consecutive years.
During her junior season, she established a then-school record for digs with 565 and was named a Daktronics Second-Team All-American as Edinboro won its second PSAC Tournament title in four years.
As a senior captain, Burner broke her own school record by recording 568 digs to help the Fighting Scots advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals and post a 26-9 overall record. She earned All-PSAC West First-Team and All-Atlantic Region honors after finishing her career with the then-school record 1,707 career digs.
The Upper St. Clair High School graduate now ranks second in Edinboro history in career digs. She also is among the school’s all-time leaders in total attempts (2,658) and games played (455).
In the 2006-07 academic year, Burner was named to the Edinboro all-time volleyball team.
BURNER YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RECORD
| Year |
Overall
Record |
Win Pct. |
PSAC
Record
|
Win Pct. |
Post-Season |
Final Rank |
| 2008 |
40-2 |
.952 |
12-0
|
1.000 |
PSAC Tournament Champions
NCAA Atlantic Regional Champions
NCAA Quarterfinals |
No. 12 AVCA |
| 2009 |
36-6 |
.857 |
19-0
|
1.000 |
PSAC Tournament Champions
NCAA Atlantic Regional Champions
NCAA Quarterfinals |
No. 23 AVCA |
| TOTALS |
68-28 |
.708 |
31-0
|
1.000 |
|
|
updated as of Aug. 26, 2010
