USA Volleyball honors Kordes

Pick a year, any year.

In volleyball, one isn’t very different than another for Ron Kordes.

As Assumption High School’s coach, he has led the Rockets to 12 state titles in the last 14 years and four national titles in the last 10 years. As director of the Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy (KIVA), he has built one of the most successful junior club programs in the country. And along the way, he has sent an almost embarrassingly long list of players to Division I college programs.

But USA Volleyball has picked 2005 to recognize Kordes as its Developmental Coach of the Year, and it seems just as good as any to him.

“It’s not anything you wait for,” said Kordes, who already had been named PrepVolleyball.com’s National Coach of the Year. “If it never happens, it never happens. But if it does, it certainly is an honor.”

Before Assumption ran off 43 straight wins to claim a state title and PrepVolleyball.com’s national title, KIVA won more medals (6) than any other club in the country at the USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championships in July. That included a silver for the Kordes-coached 14-and-under team, which, one month earlier, had won gold at the AAU Junior National Girls’ Volleyball Championships for the third straight year. And eight seniors from Assumption and/or KIVA have signed with Division I schools, including All-American Christina Kaelin (Notre Dame).

So, yes, it was a good year for Ron Kordes - but just like most every other year.

The official USA Volleyball announcement can be found here.