In her first season as head coach, Stephanie Burner guided the California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team to the most wins in school history and an appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
She enters her second season as head coach of the Vulcans in 2009 after a successful tenure at the University of North Alabama as an assistant coach.
Burner led the Vulcans to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West title last year after losing only one game in 12 matches. Cal U then won its fifth PSAC Tournament Championship in program history before winning the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament without losing a game.
Last season, Cal U featured a pair of American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans for the first time in school history. The Vulcans also excelled in the classroom, as 11 players were named PSAC Scholar-Athletes and two received ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors.
Despite being only in her second season with the program, Burner is quite familiar with the PSAC as she was a four-year starter at divisional-rival Edinboro University (1999-2002). During her playing career, the Fighting Scots posted an 87-41 overall record (.680) and earned four NCAA Tournament berths, including an Elite Eight 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 North Alabama and helped guide the Lions to an appearance in the National Championship Match against the top-ranked University of Tampa. 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 Tournament.
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 four-consecutive years.
During her junior season, she established a new school record for digs with 565 and was named a second-team All-American by Daktronics 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 Elite Eight 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 kills (921), total attacks (2,658) and games played (455),
In the 2006-07 academic year, Burner was named to the Edinboro all-time volleyball team.
