The IU South Bend women’s volleyball program debuted as a varsity sport in the 2011-12 academic year. Its origins go a year further back.
In the fall of 2010, a volleyball club took shape on campus. Even prior to that, an informal “open gym” time had been attracting eager volleyball players who set up impromptu matches. A regular
participant was Alison Derdzinski. Derdzinski had lettered in volleyball for all four years during her time as a high school student at South Bend’s Riley and had come to IU South Bend to study human resources. When it came time to interview the person who would serve as the first official volleyball coach for the Titans, Derdzinski was named to the interviewing panel, and Jamie Ashmore was among the candidates.
“We’re actually the same age, and I played against her in high school,” Derdzinski said. “She was always very feisty, so I absolutely remembered who she was.”
Ashmore got the job and helmed the squad for the next decade. It was only the third varsity sport for IU South Bend (after men’s and women’s basketball), but Ashmore was able to lead the group to immediate success, highlighted by three appearances in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) tournament finals and three NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship berths.
Derdzinski was along for the entire ride, because Ashmore asked her to serve as an assistant coach after she graduated in 2010. Although Ashmore agreed last year to take a new job coaching at her alma mater, Grand Valley State, the transition could not have been more amicable. The 2021 season was unique: Ashmore moved to Grand Rapids to be at her new school and to have her second baby with husband (and fellow volleyball expert) Adam Rykse. Rykse himself, however, stayed in South Bend with their first child and served in the meantime as interim Titans coach. After that year, it was obvious that Derdzinski should take over the head-coach position.
Her duties extend well beyond drills and schemes. A lot of it has to do with marshaling energies amid a packed schedule. Sometimes, the team will have a morning practice after getting back to town late at night after a road game. Even in those tiring circumstances, Derdzinski is full of enthusiasm. During one such practice after getting home in the wee hours after facing Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, the coach was still giddy about the performance of one of her star players – “Abby Seeger got 24 kills last night. Nobody does that!” – and still tough on her squad, who had to run a full practice on short rest.
The players find time to read and study on the bus, and they have proven that the sports activities have not detracted from their academic work. The team’s combined GPA of 3.54 netted them a spot on the 2021 NAIA Scholar Team Award list. Several of the players also participate in the Reading Buddies Mentorship Program, reading with first graders for 30-minute sessions once a week at Marshall Traditional School.
The team was undefeated at home in 2022 until its final game, a nail-biter of a narrow five-set defeat against the Judson Eagles. The Titans finished 16-13 overall and went 14-3 in the CCAC games. Several individual stars have emerged along the way. In September, a trio of Titans were simultaneously honored in their conference, with Abby Seeger named CCAC Attacker of the Week, McKenzie Powell the Setter of the Week and Suriya Van der Oord the Defender of the Week.
Because Derdzinski has been there every step of the way, the history of the program is something she knows better than anyone else. For instance, she has seen rivalries with other schools – especially St. Francis, Olivet, and St. Xavier – develop and morph.
“Last year, St. Xavier was the team to take down,” the coach said. “When we played them, we both went in undefeated in the conference. We lost that one, but that’s okay. They were the team to take down and we knew that we were the team who could do it. It took us eight years to beat Trinity Christian. Once we did it, we’ve been beating them ever since.”
