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"Hollywood couldn’t draft a better story"- Fans react as Katie Schumacher-Cawley makes history as 1st female coach to win NCAA volleyball title
Katie Schumacher-Cawley created history by becoming the first-ever female coach to lead a team to victory in the women's NCAA Division 1 Volleyball Championships. The former American volleyball player-turned-coach had announced in October this year that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Despite her ongoing treatments, Schumacher-Cawley conducted practice sessions for the team as well as cheered the team on from the lines during crucial moments of the finals. Penn State defeated Louisville in the finals of the NCAA Women's Division 1 Volleyball Championships with a score of 25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17 on December 22.
Amid the team's incredible performance on the court, fans couldn't help but notice Katie Schumacher-Cawley's contribution to the team's success despite undergoing health struggles. The 44-year-old's story garnered great support and appreciation from fans who took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate Schumacher-Cawley for becoming the first female coach to win an NCAA Divison 1 women's Championship.
"Hollywood couldn’t draft a better story," a fan wrote.
"It's truly a remarkable and inspiring story! Katie Schumacher Cawley's journey to becoming the first female head coach to win an NCAA volleyball championship, all while battling breast cancer, is nothing short of heroic," another fan chimed in.
"This is an awesome story. If you didn’t watch the NCAA WVB finals today, you missed a great match and an amazing athletic performance," wrote another fan.
Here are some more fans praising Katie Schumacher Cawley for her achievement:
"If it wasn’t going to be Nebraska, I’m glad it was Penn State," a fan wrote.
"Congratulations, @CoachKatiePSU We are all rooting for you. Every woman in any sport right now," another fan chimed in.
"Truly poetic," another fan expressed.
The win marked the Penn State Volleyball program's eighth National title overall and the first title since 2014.
Katie Schumacher-Cawley on winning the NCAA Division I Title
Katie Schumacher-Cawley expressed her thoughts on being the first female coach to lead an NCAA Division 1 women's volleyball team to victory. In a post-match interview, she paid tribute to other women who paved the way for people like her to succeed and hoped to witness many women getting into coaching in the future.
“There have been so many before me and that have paved the way for me.I’m so grateful and hopefully there will be more in the future that will want to coach and be a part of it," Katie said (as quoted by CNN).
Furthermore, she thanked the people who inspired her to achieve monumental success amid her ongoing battle with cancer.
“I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people from this team to the staff I have. I’m just really lucky to have great people around me that go above and beyond … I am inspired by the young kids that are sick. I’m doing treatment at UPenn and every time I walk into the hospital, I walk right past the children’s hospital," she added.
Katie Schumacher-Cawley's story stands as an inspiration for upcoming athletes and coaches who are going through adversities but still putting their best foot forward toward achieving their goals.
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