University of Northern Colorado Athletics

Lyndsey Oates was hired as Northern Colorado’s fourth head women’s volleyball coach on Aug. 8, 2005 — just three days prior to the start of that season’s fall camp. She had served the previous two seasons as a Bears assistant coach.

In the years since Oates, has led the Bears' march from an NCAA Division II power to Northern Colorado's first team to win a Division I conference postseason championship (2009) and first team to make an NCAA Division I tournament appearance (2009). As head coach, her teams have won ten Big Sky Championships and earned six bids to the NCAA tournament.

Oates, the 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2019 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year has coached 47 players to All-Big Sky Conference recognition at Northern Colorado, including leading 20 players to All-Big Sky First Team honors. Oates has coached a trio of Big Sky Conference MVPs in her tenure, with Kelley Arnold in 2011, Daisy Schultz in 2019 and Syd Cole in 2022. Cole became the first AVCA All-American Selection in program history in 2022.

The Bears have not only succeeded on the court under Oates’ guidance but off it as well earning eight straight AVCA Team Academic Awards for having a 3.30 team GPA. In 2018 graduate transfer Brittany Lawrence earned the program’s first Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America honor since 2006.

Oates and her coaching staffs have led the Bears on overseas exhibition tours in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The team’s trip through Eastern China in May 2008 was the first such overseas trip for any of Northern Colorado’s 19 varsity athletic programs. In 2012 the team traveled to Nicaragua and then to Europe in 2016 including Iceland, Austria and Hungary.

“There is no place I would rather be right now than coaching at Northern Colorado,” says Oates, who grew up in nearby Eaton, Colo. “It is an exciting time, and I’m thrilled to see substantial success within a program I spent so much time following growing up.”

Oates’ Northern Colorado teams have shown steady growth in each of her seasons as head coach in Greeley as the program has become a perennial force in the Big Sky.

“We've really come to a point where we expect championships in our conference and expect to be in the NCAA Tournament,” she says.

2022
In 2021, Oates led UNC to a Big Sky Regular Season title, the team's 17th consecutive Big Sky Tournament, and the team's sevemth NCAA Tournament appearance in her 18th season as head coach. UNC won the Big Sky Tournament hosted in Ogden, Utah and played in the finals for the fourth-straight season, defeating Weber State, 3-2. After being named Big Sky Tournament champions, the Bears faced San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in San Diego, Calif. UNC ended the season with an overall record of 22-9, including 13-3 in conference play.

The 2022 season boasted multiple honors and awards for the Bears. Syd Cole became the first player in program history to earn AVCA All-American honors. Four players were named to the All-Big Sky first team including Cole, Rachel Hickman, Kailey Jo Ince and Makenzie Harris.

2021
In 2021, Oates led UNC to a Big Sky Regular Season title, the team's 16th consecutive Big Sky Tournament, and the team's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in her 17th season as head coach. UNC won the Big Sky Tournament hosted in Ogden, Utah and played in the finals for the third straight season, defeating Weber State, 3-2. After being named Big Sky Tournament champions, the Bears then faced Washington State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Waco, Texas. UNC ended the season with an overall record of 24-7 and a conference record of 13-3.

The 2021 season also boasted multiple honors and awards for the Bears. Three players were named to the All-Big Sky first team including Rachel Hickman, Lauren Strain, and Kailey Jo Ince. Kyndall Feather, Kailey Jo Ince, Lauren Strain, and Rachel Hickman also received Big Sky Player of the Week Honors throughout the season as well. Along with this, Laura Katarzynski broke multiple school ace record during the 2021 season and Kailey Jo Ince joined the 1,000 kills club during a victory over Weber State. Mackenzie Harris was also named the Big Sky Tournament MVP in 2021.


2020
In her 16th season as head coach, Oates led the Bears to an overall record of 15-4 and a conference record of 13-3 in the 2020 season. The Bears also earned their 15th straight Big Sky Tournament appearance, defeating Idaho and Southern Utah, before facing Weber State in the finals. This marked the second year in a row that UNC played in the Big Sky Tournament finals, but this time it was on their home court.

Multiple UNC players also received honors and awards throughout the 2020 season. Four Bears earned All-Big Sky honors including Taylor Muff (1st team), Daisy Schultz (1st team), Lauren Heinrichs (1st team), and Big Sky Newcomer of the Year Rachel Hickman (2nd team). Kyndall Feather earned Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week Honors twice throughout the season. Taylor Muff also joined the 1,000 kills club in a sweep over Portland State during the 2020 season as well.

2019
Northern Colorado has season as a Division I season in Oates' 15th season as head coach. For the fifth time in her career, Oates earned Big Sky Coach of the Years after leading the team to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and a DI program record, 26 wins. UNC tied a Big Sky record with 17 conference wins. UNC had a first round matchup against Hawaii in Honolulu. The Bears made their presence felt, winning the second set, 26-24 in front of a crowd of 7,818. 

UNC won the Big Sky Tournament in Sacramento, Calif. as the number one seed. The Bears would defeat Montana, 3-1, in the first round of the conference tournament and followed it up with a 3-1 match win against Montana State. The tournament finals had UNC facing off against Weber State. After dropping the first set, the Bears would win the next two, but the Wildcats tied the match with a fourth-set win. UNC would close out the fifth set on a 3-1 run to clinch Big 12 title.

Oates led UNC to a 26-8 overall record and 17-1 in the Big Sky to earn the top seed in the conference tournament. The 2019 schedule was challenging for UNC as they faced four teams in the AVCA Top 100, including two who were in the Top 50. 

In the 2019 season, Oates would coach her second Big Sky Conference MVP, as Daisy Schultz earned the award. Along with Schultz, Kailey Jo Ince and Taylor Muff earned All-Big Sky first team honors. Lauren Hinrichs was named to the All-Big Sky second team as well.  

During the season, Ince set a single-season program record with 508 kills, while Schultz set single season record with 1,505 assists. Taylor Els also became the program's all-time, DI leader in digs 1,818.

2018
In Oates’ 14th season as the head coach for Northern Colorado, the program earned its 13^th straight trip to the Big Sky Tournament while earning its first berth to the relaunched NIVC. The Bears won the bid to host the Big Sky Tournament and made some noise as the host sweeping No. 3 seed Weber State before falling in a hard-fought semifinal to Idaho in five sets. UNC ended up earning an invite into the relaunched NIVC where they fell in the first round to Portland.
 
Redshirt sophomore Lauren Hinrichs was named the Big Sky’s Newcomer of the Year. While two Bears earned All-Big Sky second team honors in Kortney Lockey and Daisy Schultz. Graduate transfer Brittany Lawrence earned the program’s first Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America honor since 2006.
 
During the season Kortney Lockey became the eighth player in program history to join the 1,000 kills and digs club and second under the guidance of Oates, joining Kendra Cunningham.
 
2017
For the 12th consecutive season, Oates helped lead Northern Colorado to the Big Sky Tournament. Northern Colorado finished the season. A pair of Bears earned All-Conference honors in middle blocker Emily O'Neil and outside hitter Kortney Lockey both being on the second team.
 
The team finished the season with a 14-16 record and as the eighth seed in the Big Sky Tournament falling to the top seed, Sacramento State, in the quarterfinals.

2016
In her 12th season at the helm for Northern Colorado, Oates saw another successful season under her watch, highlighted by another appearance in the Big Sky Tournament, four All-Big Sky award winners and earning her 200th career victory. 

The milestone victory came first during the non-conference portion of the season. UNC earned Coach Oates her 200th career win with a sweep at Air Force in September. While she achieved that victory mark in the season, she also saw some of her players make their way into the Northern Colorado record book as well. Ashley Guthrie became just the sixth player in program history to record 4,000 career assists. Meanwhile, Alex Kloehn had a strong season at the net. She set the program record for solo blocks in a single season since joining the Division I rank with 25.

As a team, the Bears had yet another strong season finishing, 18-11 overall and 12-4 in the Big Sky to earn the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. It was the 11th straight Big Sky Tournament the program had qualified for. UNC fell in the first round in a heartbreaking five-set match against Idaho State.

In the 2016 season, four UNC player's earned All-Big Sky team honors. Ashley Guthrie, Alex Kloehn, Kortney Lockey and Timarie Nymeyer were the four to earn the honors. Guthrie was named to the first team for the second straight season. Kloehn, Lockey and Nymeyer are all members of the second team, and it was also the first time for any of the trio to earn All-Big Sky honors. 

2015
For the 10th straight season Oates led the Bears to the Big Sky Tournament, this year played in Flagstaff, Arizona at the home of Northern Arizona. Northern Colorado was the five seed after finishing the regular season tied for first in the Big Sky North with a 10-6 record. UNC would fall to Sacramento State in the first round of the tournament in four sets.

During the regular season Oates and her staff had a challenging schedule for the 2015 Bears, including facing eventual semifinalist Kansas and taking a set off of them. Other top teams UNC faced during the season included UCF, Arizona State, Colorado State and Wyoming. During Big Sky play, UNC once again put together a lengthy win streak, closing the regular season out on a six-match win streak.

Oates continued to help produce some of Northern Colorado's best players in program history. Both seniors Kendra Cunningham and Meagan Garcia cemented their spots in UNC history. Cunningham finished her career under the guidance of Oates as the seventh player in UNC history to record both 1,000 career digs and kills, while Garcia finished her career as one of 23 players in program history with at least 1,000 career digs. 

Once again in 2015 Northern Colorado had a few players named to the All-Big Sky team. Both Ashley Guthrie and Kendra Cunningham earned first team honors. It was the first time either player earned the first team honors and the 11th and 12th players to be named first team All-Conference since Oates took over the program. 

2014
For the third time of her career Oates received the honor of Big Sky Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. For the first time UNC did not face a national seed, instead facing in-state foe Colorado in Fort Collins. The Bears would fall to the Buffs in four sets. UNC and CU were a part of an all Colorado regional that also featured Colorado State and Denver. 

Northern Colorado earned the berth to the NCAA Tournament after going into the Big Sky Tournament as the #3 seed. UNC swept its way through the tournament. In the championship game, Northern Colorado faced host Idaho State, who had only lost one conference game all year, which also came against the Bears. UNC would sweep the match and have three players placed on the All-Tournament team. Kendra Cunningham was named tournament MVP, while Andrea Spaustat and Katie Champion also made the team. It was the fifth time in six years that the Bears had participated in the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship game.  

UNC once again faced a challenging schedule in 2014 matching up against five teams that would make the NCAA Tournament. The schedule included hosting #4 Wisconsin. It was the highest-rated team to ever visit Greeley, and the Bears would not go away easily, including taking the second set against the Badgers 27-25. In conference play UNC would go 12-4, including winning nine of their last ten matches before the conference tournament.    

Oates was not the only person involved with the team to earn Big Sky honors, but four players made it onto the All-Big Sky team. Senior middle blockers Brianna Strong and Andrea Spaustat made it on the first team, while Ashley Guthrie and Kendra Cunningham earned second team honors. For Spaustat it was the second time she had made first team All-Big Sky. On the academic side, nine student-athletes made the Big Sky All-Academic Team. 

2013
Oates once again led the Bears to a Big Sky Tournament berth for the seventh straight year in 2013. The team would make it to the quarterfinals where they would fall to eventual Big Sky Champion Idaho State. 

During the regular season Northern Colorado once again earned wins over power five conference schools. They swept Baylor at home and also defeated South Florida 3-1. 

Other achievements for the Bears included placing three players on the All-Big Sky team. Brianna Strong made the second team, with Andrea Spaustat and Merideth Johnson as honorable mentions. UNC also had seven players make it onto the Big Sky's All-Academic team for posting a 3.2 GPA or above, while participating in at least half of the team's games. 

2012
Northern Colorado's magical run into its third NCAA Tournament in four years ended at the hands of No. 5 Oregon in the tournament's First Round. The loss ended another successful season with the Bears winning a Big Sky Conference championship for the fourth straight year. Northern Colorado won the league's postseason crown this year and in 2009, split regular-season title in 2010 and won both outright in 2011.

The Bears qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years with a furious rally over Idaho State in the Big Sky Championship final. After dropping the first two sets, the Bears, behind an enthusiastic home crowd at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion, roared back to win the match.

With their three wins during the NCMC Banner Health 2012 Big Sky Volleyball Championship, the Bears extended their winning streak in Big Sky postseason play to five matches.
Northern Colorado also tied with the 2010 team for the school's Division I record for wins in a season with 24.

The Bears finished with the best hitting percentage (.250) in the conference and finished second in digs (15.93/set), assists (12.83/set) and kills (13.77).

In the Big Sky Championship, and en route to being named the tournament MVP, sophomore middle blocker Andrea Spaustat (Omaha, Neb.) set a new career-high with nine total blocks, including two solos, to go along with 10 kills while hitting .600 and tallying six digs.

Senior Kelley Arnold was named to the Big Sky All-Conference First Team for the third straight year while Spaustat earned second team honors. Arnold leaves Northern Colorado as the school's Division I kills leader (1,515) and fifth on the all-time list. She is also eighth on the Big Sky's career kills list. Senior setter Marissa Hughes earned Honorable Mention recognition after being named to the Second Team in each of her first three years with the Bears.

2011
The Bears saw their successful 2011 season end with their second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons.

They won their first outright Big Sky Conference regular-season title in 2011 and then swept through Eastern Washington and Portland State in the Big Sky Conference Championships to earn an NCAA Tournament berth, where they drew third-ranked Hawai'i in the first round.

Northern Colorado held leads in each of its three sets with the Rainbow Wahine in Honolulu, but UH was too much to handle overall in the Bears' season-ending loss.

The loss brought to a close a campaign that featured the Bears winning a Big Sky Conference championship for the third straight year.

Other achievements of note for the Bears in 2011 were Kelley Arnold adding to her already-illustrious career with a unanimous pick for Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player honors, and Spaustat joining Arnold with a Big Sky First Team selection. Spaustat, also honored as the league's Freshman of the Year, was just the third Big Sky freshman since 1987 to earn a Big Sky Volleyball First Team honor, joining Portland State's Garyn Schlatter (2010), Montana State's Anne Watts (2000) and Cal State Northridge's Laura Szymanski (1998).

Senior Amanda Arterburn earned a spot on the All-Big Sky Conference Second Team in 2011 and was tabbed as the league's Libero of the Year. In early December 2011, she was honored with Northern Colorado's first American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region selection since 2002.

Arterburn was joined on the Big Sky second team in 2011 by Hughes, who earned a Second Team spot for the third time in three seasons.

2010
Northern Colorado saw its historic 2010 campaign end in the Big Sky Volleyball Championship, after a loss to top-seeded Portland State in the final match. The defeat left Benson at 99 career wins during her six seasons in Greeley.

The Bears won more games in 2010 (24-7) than any NCAA Division I team in school history and also attracted a school Division I-record 14,442 fans to home matches in 2010, obliterating the previous best mark of 9,223, set in 2009.

2009
In that 2009 season, Oates' Bears finished 21-12 (a school Division I record) and won their first Big Sky Conference Championship before advancing to the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Collins, where it took a game off sixth-ranked Washington before falling 3-1.

Oates was honored as the Big Sky's best coach (Northern Colorado’s first such honor), after she led four players to all-conference honors, including Allison Raguse (first team), Hughes (second team), Kenzie Shreeve (second team) and Taylor Smith (honorable mention).

The Bears also defeated Colorado (3-0 sweep) in 2009 and took rival Colorado State (a perennial national powerhouse) to five games before losing 3-2 in Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.

Early years
Oates led Northern Colorado to 14 victories in her first season at the helm and the Bears’ first season playing at the NCAA Division I level. That season, in 2005, also included a 9-4 record against Division I Independent teams and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Independent Championships, which was hosted by Northern Colorado.

Also in 2005, with a 3-1 victory Nov. 10 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening round of the Division I Independent Championships, Oates’ Northern Colorado squad broke the school record for consecutive home matches won. The streak reached 35 consecutive wins before the Bears suffered a 3-1 loss to IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) on Nov. 11. That was the first time Northern Colorado had lost at home since the end of the 2001 season.

The benchmarks continued in 2006 when Oates led the Bears to a 13-16 record (7-9 in the Big Sky) and to their first Big Sky Championship appearance and a tournament-quarterfinal victory against Montana in Northern Colorado’s first year of being eligible for NCAA Division I postseason play.

The Bears fell back a bit in 2007 — they posted a 10-20 overall record, but their 8-8 Big Sky record was an improvement over the year before — but in 2008 finished 17-10 (10-6 in the Big Sky), advanced to the Big Sky Conference Championship semifinals and had four players earn all-conference notice, including Shreeve (first team), Raguse (second team), Smith (honorable mention) and Lauren Carter (honorable mention).  

The 2008 and prior seasons were just a buildup for a historic 2009 campaign.

In her two seasons as an assistant with the Bears, Northern Colorado compiled a 47-11 record, including a 32-2 mark in her first year.

Oates, who came to the Bears after spending the 2002 season as an assistant coach at Samford in Birmingham, Ala., was a prep star at Eaton (Colo.) High, where she earned all-state honors three times and still holds the fourth spot in Colorado high school history for career kills (980). She also led the Reds to the 1997 state championship her senior year.

She played collegiate volleyball at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., where she finished with 259 career kills and 369 digs and was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection and earned a degree in mass communication in 2002.

Her time with the Tigers on the court was marred by injury after recording 128 kills and 128 digs in 78 games as a true freshman. She suffered a season-ending elbow injury 12 games into her junior season and was unable to recover the year of eligibility with a medical redshirt. She returned for her senior season after two knee surgeries and saw most of her action in the back row, recording a career-high 138 digs.

Oates, who continued her education at Northern Colorado, where she completed her master’s degree in athletic administration in December 2004, married Mark Oates in 2012. The two welcomed their first child Dylan, in 2013 and second, Rylee, in 2015

Lyndsey Oates' collegiate coaching resume