Davis promoted to head coach at Dubuque

Karrah Davis is the new head coach at Dubuque. Davis was most recently Dubuque’s associate head coach.

-Ricky Nelson

Wolff announced as new Mount Mary head coach

Maida Wolff is the new head coach at Mount Mary. Wolff was most recently head coach at Cardinal Stritch.

-Ricky Nelson

Gooden named head coach at North Central (Ill.)

Ray Gooden is the new head coach at North Central (Ill.). Gooden was most recently head coach at Northern Illinois.

-Ricky Nelson

St. Olaf’s Foster leavin’ on jetplane to Occidental

Former St. Olaf head coach Emily Foster has been announced as the new leader at Occidental. Foster led the Oles from 2016-23.

-Ricky Nelson

Van Lannen in at Lawrence

Jeff Van Lannen is the new head coach at Lawrence. Van Lannen was most recently the technical specialist at University of Wisconsin.

Former LU head coach Meg Grose, who guided the Vikings for one season, is now at New Mexico Highlands.

-Ricky Nelson

Bishop named head coach at Blackburn

Shannon Bishop is the new head coach at Blackburn. Bishop was most recently an assistant coach at Midland.

-Ricky Nelson

Balleto sheds coaching duties at MMU

Natalie Balleto has resigned as volleyball head coach at Mount Mary. Balleto, head coach of the Blue Angels since 2018, will remain Mount Mary’s athletic director.

-Ricky Nelson

Fontbonne to shutter in Summer 2025

Fontbonne University, founded in 1923, will close after the 2024-25 academic year due to budget and enrollment shortfalls. Fontbonne, which intends to compete in athletics through its 2024-25 seasons, will not admit a Fall 2024 class.

Washington University, located a 10-minute walk down the boulevard from Fontbonne in St. Louis (Clayton), has entered into a purchase agreement for Fontbonne’s campus and will assist students and staff with integration efforts.

Fontbonne is a founding member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

-Ricky Nelson

New head coach openings at MUW, NCC

A pair of resignations have led to head coach searches at Mississippi Women and North Central (Ill.).

Halee Hensley stepped down at MUW two weeks ago to accept the head coach position at her alma mater, Central Baptist College (Ark.).

No school release is currently available, but Sydney Cheatham-Carlone resigned from North Central (Ill.) earlier this week and is no longer listed among the Cardinals 2024 coaching staff.

Cheatham-Carlone was the NCC head coach for one season, while Hensley had helmed MUW for three years.

To my knowledge that leaves five outstanding Region VIII/IX head coaching announcements (Blackburn, Dubuque, Lawrence, Mississippi Women, North Central (Ill.)), meaning there will be at least 17 new head coaches in Regions VIII/IX in 2024.

-Ricky Nelson

Elsbernd moves from Dubuque to Augsburg

April Elsbernd is the new head coach at Augsburg. Elsbernd helmed Dubuque during the past 15 seasons.

-Ricky Nelson