Annelies Knoppers is a former college volleyball coach. She coached the Michigan State women's volleyball team for 11 seasons, compiling an overall record of 250-197-18. She was Michigan State's head coach when the Big Ten Conference began sponsoring women's volleyball.

Coaching career edit

Michigan State edit

Knoppers was the third coach of the Michigan State women's volleyball team, and coached for the Spartans for eleven seasons.[1]

Her head coaching career debuted in 1974, where the team opened with a tournament sponsored by the Michigan Women's Volleyball Association.[2] In her second year of coaching, Michigan State qualified for the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championships, one of 24 teams to be invited to the tournament.[3] The team finished with an overall record of 38-2, won the Big Ten tournament and the state tournament, and finished third in the Midwest Regionals.[4] The team finished ninth in the AIAW championships. She returned eight of those players to compete the next year.[5]

In the 1976 season, Knoppers' Spartans finished the season 35-6. They improved on their 1975 finish in the Midwest Regionals, this time securing a win. They were seeded eighth in the 24 team AIAW tournament.[3]

Knoppers finished her career at Michigan State with a record of 250-197-18.[1] She retired to pursue a teaching career.[6]

Head coaching record edit

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Michigan State (Big Ten Conference) (1974–1984)
1974 Michigan State 20-13
1975 Michigan State 41-4
1976 Michigan State 41-9
1977 Michigan State 7-34-2
1978 Michigan State 22-15-8
1979 Michigan State 28-18-8
1980 Michigan State 32-17
1981 Michigan State 17-32 2-6
1982 Michigan State 9-22 2-11
1983 Michigan State 17-17 3-10
1984 Michigan State 16-16 5-8
Michigan State: 250-197-18 12-35
Total: 250-197-18

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References edit

  1. ^ a b "2022 Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "MSU Women's Volleyball Team Opens". Lansing State Journal. September 20, 1974. p. 25. Retrieved November 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "MSU volleyballers Texas bound". Lansing State Journal. December 8, 1976. p. 29. Retrieved November 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "MSU Swimmers Go South". Lansing State Journal. December 11, 1975. p. 41. Retrieved November 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "MSU women golfers on tourney tour". Lansing State Journal. September 17, 1976. p. 20. Retrieved November 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "MSU Names New Volleyball Coach". Lansing State Journal. March 7, 1985. p. 26. Retrieved November 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.