SAINT PETER, Minn. - After serving as the Gustavus head volleyball coach for the past 14 years, Rachelle Sherden has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). Sherden will continue to coach volleyball through the 2024 season before taking on the full-time responsibilities of the SWA on Jan. 1, 2025.
"We are thrilled to elevate 'Ro' to the Assistant Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator position," Athletic Director Tom Brown said. "Ro has the utmost respect from our coaches and student-athletes. She has done a tremendous job leading our volleyball team since 2010, turning the program into a juggernaut in the MIAC and the region. I have confidence that her successes will continue in her role as an administrator."
As the highest ranking woman in the athletics department, one of Sherden's main responsibilities will focus on student-athlete welfare as an advisor to both the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Student-Athlete Volunteer Educators. Sherden will act as a key decision-maker in the athletic department, strategize ways to support and manage gender equity with Title IX plans, and advocate issues important to female and male student-athletes, coaches, and staff. In this role, Sherden takes over for Kari Eckheart, who retired from the College at the end of the 2023-24 academic year after 27 years of service to the department.
"Kari Eckheart made a significant and positive impact on the Gustavus Athletics department and our entire campus community," Sherden said. "Her mentorship was crucial in my career and I will miss her dearly.
"I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to continue to work for Gustavus in this new role. I feel especially motivated to serve the leaders, coaches, and student-athletes, who I greatly respect, in the high-performing and community-centered Gustie Athletics department."
Sherden enters her 15th and final year as the head volleyball coach, having won the MIAC regular season and playoff titles the past three consecutive seasons. Sherden has directed the Gusties to five MIAC regular season championships, while winning the league playoffs in six of the past eight seasons. Under Sherden's leadership, the Gusties have made seven NCAA tournament appearances, highlighted by a trip to the national quarterfinals in 2017. In 14 seasons, Sherden holds an overall record of 258-138 and is 101-45 in the MIAC. Sherden has been named MIAC Coach of the Year four times and AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year twice. She has coached six athletes who have earned eight All-America honors, including four athletes who have garnered six MIAC Player of the Year awards.
"Coaching the Gustavus volleyball team for 15 seasons has brought incredible meaning to my life, especially in all that I have learned and the relationships I have gained over the years with colleagues, staff, and current and former student-athletes," Sherden said. "The experience has been transformational, both personally and professionally, and has prepared me to assist Director of Athletics Tom Brown and collaborate with the current administrative leaders in the operation and strategic development of this exceptional athletics program."
A national search for Sherden's successor will begin at the end of the season.
