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Riley Gaines praises coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley of the Penn State volleyball team. (Images by Getty)

Riley Gaines lauds coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley on leading Penn State volleyball team to NCAA final while battling cancer

Riley Gaines recently praised coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley for guiding Penn State's women's team to the 2024 Division I NCAA Volleyball Championships final while battling with cancer. Schumacher-Cawley was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.

Having commenced her coaching career in 2003 as an assistant coach for UIC, she got promoted to head coach in 2009 and held the position for the next eight years. In 2017, Schumacher-Cawley was named the head coach for Penn State Nittany Lions and was later named as their head coach in 2022.

The 44-year-old guided the team to the final for this year's NCAA Volleyball Championships while battling cancer, which she first made public in October. The Penn State women's volleyball team defeated the Nebraska Huskers in the semifinal round with a 3-2 victory, while fixing their gaze on their eighth national championship.

Ahead of the final round, the former University of Kentucky swimmer Gaines highlighted Schumacher-Cawley's resilience and determination and acknowledged her ability to lead her team to such an achievement while going through a difficult health journey.

"4 months ago, Penn State women’s volleyball head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley was diagnosed with breast cancer," she wrote. "This weekend her team will play in the NCAA D1 Women's Volleyball National Championship. The definition of grit and strength."

The Penn State women's volleyball team will face Louisville Cardinals in the final round on Sunday, December 22, 2024, at KFC YUM! Center in Downtown Louisville.

Riley Gaines backs female volleyball players who refused to compete against a team due to presence of transgender athlete

Riley Gaines visits The Megyn Kelly Show in New York City. (Image Source: Getty)
Riley Gaines visits The Megyn Kelly Show in New York City. (Image Source: Getty)

Riley Gaines honored the Stone Ridge Christian High School girls volleyball team for refraining from playing against San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament involving a trans athlete, while sharing her experience of competing against Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Women's Swimming Championships.

"We knew having a man undressing next to us in the locker room, standing at six foot four, we knew that was wrong," Gaines said. "We knew the silencing that we were facing from our universities, our institutions, how really, they effectively silenced us, muzzled us. We knew all of that was wrong. But none of us, including myself, had the courage that these girls on this court today had." (via Foxnews.com)

A few days back, Gaines questioned the participation of transgender athlete Blaire Flemming in the Mountain West Women's Volleyball Championship tournament to the NCAA.

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