NC State Wolfpack

Mary Byrne
	Position: Head Coach Experience: 2001-05 Alma Mater: Nebraska 1985

Mary Byrne, a former all-conference player at Nebraska and the winningest coach in South Dakota State University volleyball history, spent five year as the sixth head women's volleyball coach at NC State University. The Byrne Era, which began on February 14, 2001, ended following the final match of the 2005 season.

Byrne compiled a 175-88 overall record in eight years at South Dakota State prior to arriving in Raleigh, including a 79-56 mark in the North Central Conference. Her last four Jackrabbit teams had a combined record of 100-31.

Byrne steadily built the South Dakota State program into a powerhouse, reaching the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in 1997. SDSU's rise to the top culminated in 2000 with a 29-4 overall record, a No. 4 Division II national ranking, a 15-3 conference mark, and a share of the school's first North Central Conference championship.

The Jackrabbits won 20 or more games each of Byrne's last five years at South Dakota State, going 121-45 during that time. South Dakota State earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament three of Byrne's last four years, and was ranked in every American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll from midway through the 1997 season through the end of the 2000 campaign. Byrne was named North Central Region Coach of the Year in 1997 and North Central Conference Coach of the Year in 2000.

Byrne coached four All-Americans at South Dakota State, nine All-North Central Region players, and 14 All-North Central Conference players. Her teams maintained an overall grade-point average of 3.0 or better throughout her time at SDSU, and her last three teams each received the AVCA Academic Excellence Award.

A native of Marshall, Minn., Byrne was an assistant coach at Southwest State University from 1987-90, and then was head coach at Marshall High School for two seasons, coaching Marshall to a 26-4 record and second place in the Minnesota state tournament in 1992. She was named Region 2AA and Minnesota Class AA High School Coach of the Year. She was named head coach at South Dakota State the following season.

A 1985 graduate of the University of Nebraska, Byrne was an All-Big Eight setter as a sophomore, junior and senior in 1984. She served as team captain her senior season, and was an AAU Junior Olympic All-American in 1983. Byrne and her husband, Ken, have three children: Stephen, Zachary and Ashton.

 

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