Heather Hayes concluded her 12th season as head coach of the Indiana University Kokomo volleyball team in the fall of 2024. Hayes holds a 358-96 overall record heading into the season, including a 166-16 conference mark.
Under Hayes' leadership, the Cougars have won four of the last five River States Conference tournament championships and made seven straight NAIA National Tournament appearances, making it to the final site in 2020.
The 2020 season saw much of the same success for the Cougars. IUK won both the regular season and conference tournament crowns, the third time in program history the Cougars have won both. The season brought many challenges with COVID-19 forcing the championship season to the spring of 2021. Despite the adversity, the Cougars finished with a 26-4 overall record and a perfect 13-0 mark in conference play. The Cougars hosted the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament, defeating Aquinas College to advance to Sioux City, Iowa. After an opening round loss, the Cougars picked up their first-ever victory at the final site, a 3-2 victory over Keiser University.
In 2019, the Cougars finished with an overall record of 27-14 and a 13-3 mark in RSC action. Three players were named First Team all-conference in Macee Rudy, Erinn Adam, and Elizabeth Sokeland. Rudy was named Libero of the Year while Nyssa Baker earned Player of the Year honors. Rudy and Sokeland earned AVCA All-Region honors and Rudy was named the AVCA/NAIA Defender of the Year.
The 2017 and 2018 seasons were nearly identical to one another. Hayes helped lead the program to not only two more 30-win seasons, but also consecutive years with an undefeated record in conference play. In 2018, the Cougars were able to also capture the conference tournament championship, which aided in them getting to host the first round of the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history. The team now has made the National Tournament and won their conference for four consecutive seasons. The success of the team helped Hayes earn some local and national recognition as she was named River States Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her six seasons, as well as AVCA Midcentral Region Coach of the Year. In the classroom, the volleyball team also has performed quite well capturing the AVCA Team Academic Award and NAIA Scholar-Team recognition in 2017 and the Chancellor’s Cup in 2018.
The 2016 Cougars clinched an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament after winning the River States Conference tournament and going 27-10 during the regular season. During this season, the IU Kokomo volleyball program reached its 100th win with Hayes attaining a personal milestone when securing her 100th win as a college coach. The Cougars advanced through the first round of the National Tournament and received votes for the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 final ballot, finishing 33rd in the country.
In 2015 the IU Kokomo volleyball program had a record-setting season under Coach Hayes, who was recognized as Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. The team earned the school’s first bid to an NAIA National Tournament after setting a school record for the most wins in a season (34-5, 11-1 KIAC) and most consecutive wins in a season (19). The Cougars also won the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletics Conference regular season and the conference tournament for the first time ever. In the classroom the volleyball team held a 3.4 GPA, capturing the AVCA Team Academic Award, the NAIA Scholar-Team and the Chancellor’s Cup.
Hayes won Coach of the Year in the conference for the first time after her and her team finished second in the conference in 2014 (25-8). The Cougars also secured the NAIA Scholar-Team award that year with a 3.37 team GPA.
Hayes’s first year at IU Kokomo saw her lead the Cougars to a third place finish in the conference with a 28-11 record, the first winning season in program history.?
Heather Hayes came to IU Kokomo with 15 years of volleyball coaching experience. Heather coached with Circle City Volleyball Club for four years, ran her own club for five years, and was with Indy Juniors Volleyball Club for a time. Additionally, Heather spent 11 years as the varsity head coach at Frankfort High School in Frankfort, Indiana. During her tenure she led the Hot Dogs to 262 wins and a .690 win percentage, including 8 conference championships, 5 sectional championships, a trip to the elite eight, and a trip to the state finals.
In addition to her extensive coaching background, Heather also has a great deal of experience playing volleyball at a high level. She played five years of club volleyball for Circle City and helped lead her club team to a 3rd place finish at the Junior Olympic National Championships-Open Division during her senior season. In high school, she was also selected as a member of the North/South Indiana All-Star Team and 2nd team All-State. After high school, she played collegiate volleyball for both the University of Montevallo and the University of Indianapolis.
Heather has an undergraduate degree from the University of Indianapolis and a Master’s from Ball State. She resides in Frankfort with her husband, Allen.
