Coe College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Woodin went from stocks to blocks

DeAnn Woodin is following her passion for being a leader in her ninth year as Coe’s volleyball coach, but she wasn’t always on the coaching path.

Woodin attended the University of South Dakota and transferred to the University of Northern Iowa for a double major in Finance and Economics. She was a stockbroker for a few years while being a volunteer coach at UNI and then an assistant at Wartburg.

Throughout this process Woodin realized that coaching was her passion. She coached at Kirkwood and went to the University of Iowa as the Director of Volleyball Operations before coming to Coe.

Woodin’s best influences in life were her coaches and teachers, so making the switch from stock broker to coaching was only logical.

“I love helping people and working with young people and coaching is essentially teaching,” she explained. “If you do something you love every day you don’t feel like it’s a job.”

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Coe wins Iowa Conference volleyball title

DECORAH - The Coe volleyball team defeated Luther, 25-11, 23-25, 25-13, 25-18, Tuesday night to capture the Iowa Conference regular-season title with a perfect 7-0 record in league games.

The Kohawks are 26-7 overall.

Rachel Schaefer topped a balanced attack with 14 kills. Rachel Bosworth, Olivia Leisinger and Brianna Smith had nine kills. Mackenzie Harbaugh and Meghan McClimon had eight kills.

Harbaugh collected 49 assists. Alissa Wittenburg contributed 17 digs. Bosworth blocked four shots.

Coe's Harbaugh nets IIAC honor

Coe's Mackenzie Harbaugh, a junior setter from Manchester, has been named the Iowa Conference's Offensive Player of the week.

Harbaugh racked up 176 assists, 39 kills, 39 digs, nine service aces and nine blocks (all assists) as the Kohawks went 4-1 last week and clinched a share of the Iowa Conference title with a 3-1 win over Central.

She posted a 55-assist, 14-dig double-double in a 3-2 win at No. 23 Wisconsin-Whitewater, then capped the Whitewater tournament with a 11-kill, 36-assist double-double in a 3-0 win over Olivet. Harbaugh averaged 9.78 assists and 2.17 kills per set.

Alyssa Olson will pitch for Kohawks

Cedar Rapids Jefferson pitcher Alyssa Olson has accepted an offer to join the Coe softball team next year.

Olson has compiled a 39-10 record the past two seasons, helping the J-Hawks make consecutive trips to the Class 5A state tournament.

Olson went 18-6 with a 0.74 ERA this past year as a junior when Jefferson finished seventh at the state tournament. She struck out 188 batters in 160 innings and was named second team all-state.

Olson fashioned a 21-4 record and 1.03 ERA as a sophomore in 2013 when Jefferson finished fifth at the state tournament. She struck out 237 batters in 163.1 innings that season.