Hector Kiely
(Seventh season)
(USF Record: 111-96 overall, 32-13 MCC)

In just six years, Hector Kiely's Lady Cougars have become the most successful volleyball program in school history.  With Kiely at the helm, USF consistently challenges for NAIA Region VIII playoff berths and is among the favorites in the Mid-Central Conference year-in-and-year-out.  

In 2003, the Lady Cougars won their first ever Conference Championship with an impressive 7-0 record and reached the NAIA playoffs for the first time, reaching the Region VIII Semi-Final. The 2003 season also brought the first ever nation ranking to USF, where Kiely guided the team as high as 20^th in the nation. The Lady Cougars churned out three consecutive twenty-win seasons from 2001-2003, including a school-record 10-match winning streak in 2001.

Over the last six seasons Kiely's program has produced one All-American, five NAIA-Daktronics All-America Scholar Athletes, six All-NAIA Region VIII honorees, twenty All-MCC selections and two MCC Freshmen-of-the-Year.

Kiely came to USF after directing the Bishop Luers High School program for four years. The Knights went 88-41 with Kiely at the controls including a third-place finish in the IHSAA tournament in 1998. In 2001,  his final season at Luers, one of his Knights was named to Volleyball Magazine’s "Fab 50 List", which recognizes the top 50 prep volleyball players in the nation entering college.

Kiely also has also been active with one of Indiana's elite clubs -- Fort Wayne Volleyball Club. In 1999, his 16-and-under team finished 27th out of 64 teams in the USA Volleyball National Championships. One of the players from that team played for the 2000 NCAA Division I National Champions.

As a player, Kiely competed on the United States All-Marine Corps Volleyball team in 1993 before a preseason knee injury cut short his IPFW career in 1994. That season, Kiely was an inactive member of the Mastadon’s 1994 NCAA Final Four team.

In 1997, Kiely returned to collegiate volleyball at Tri-State University. In his first season with the Thunder, Kiely was named to the 1998 All-NAIA/MIVA Conference Tournament team, which at that time was considered the unofficial NAIA National Championship. He captained the Thunder as a senior in 2000, leading the team to a fifth-place finish at the NAIA/SSI National Invitational Tournament.

Kiely earned a bachelor’s degree from Tri-State in Computer Aided Drafting and Design Technology and is a master’s student in USF’s Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership. He and his wife Annie have two small children and reside in Fort Wayne.  

Tammy Schmitt
(Sixth season)

Tammy Schmitt returns for her sixth season on the Cougar volleyball staff, continuing a partnership with Coach Kiely that began at Bishop Luers High School in 1999. Schmitt served as Luers’ varsity assistant and junior varsity coach in 1999 and 2000, Kiely’s last two seasons with the Knights.

Schmitt's primary responsibility at USF is to train the setters and monitor the team’s offensive tendencies.  Schmitt, a University of South Carolina graduate, was the starting setter for the Gamecocks during a standout four-year career. "Tammy is an asset to this program. Her experience as a setter and ability to train setters is highly respected."  While at South Carolina, Schmitt set team records for assists in a season and career assists.

Tammy also has experience with Fort Wayne Volleyball Club, taking several of her club teams to the Junior National Tournament. She guided one team to a second-place finish at the Asics National Championships in 2002. "The respect that Tammy has earned as a trainer of prep athletes is a great plus to our recruiting of quality athletes."

Schmitt earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Administration at University of South Carolina and resides in Fort Wayne with her husband, Craig.

Heather Byrne
(Second season)

Heather Byrne begins her second season as assistant varsity coach. Coach Byrne completed a standout career at Clarion University (Pa.) in 2005. She helped the Golden Eagles to NCAA Division II regional competition three times and one conference tournament appearance.

For Varsity Coach Byrne is responsible for video exchange, scouting reports, recruiting coordinator, and team travel. 

A four-year letter winner, she played in the back row and as an outside hitter. She was a four-year scholar athlete at Clarion and graduated with a degree in Rehabilitative Sciences in 2006.