DULUTH, Minn. – Former University of Minnesota Duluth Hall of Fame multi-sport athlete and coach Stephanie Schleuder passed away on June 26th (1950-2023), her family announced.
Schleuder competed in an astounding seven different sports as a Bulldog (basketball, badminton, field hockey, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball) from 1968-72. The Richfield, Minnesota native was the winner of the Greybeal Award as the outstanding senior in UMD's Physical Education program. Schleuder was part of the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 1991 being the only women inducted that year.
Schleuder went on to coach volleyball for 34 years. Her 702 career victories rank her among the all-time leaders in college spanning four teams, serving her final 12 years at Macalester College. She began her coaching career at Bemidji State University before returning to the Bulldogs to take on an assistant role also accepting the head basketball coaching position (1973-74). She went on to serve double duty as the head volleyball and basketball coach at the University of Alabama before coaching solely volleyball at her next stop at the University of Minnesota for 13 seasons.
While with the Gophers, Schleuder's teams made it to the NCAA Tournament twice in 1989 and 1993, including a 1993 Sweet 16 appearance. She amassed 263 victories and coached 12 student-athletes to All-Big Ten honors. Prior to Minnesota, Schleuder was the head volleyball coach of the Crimson Tide from 1974-81. She won 285 matches during that span and coached Alabama to the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) playoffs three times. She was named the state of Alabama's AIAW Coach of the Year in both 1977 and 1979.
She was the head coach of the gold medal winning Team North at 1990 U.S. Olympic Festival in the Twin Cities and the assistant commissioner for volleyball at the 1991 event in Los Angeles. Additionally, Schleuder chaired the AIAW National Volleyball Committee from 1979 to 1981 and served as president of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) from 2000-04. Schleuder received several awards from USA Volleyball, including the Karen Johnson Human Relations Award, a Boyce Award from the USA Volleyball Foundation and a George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award.
In 2005, Schleuder was inducted into the Minnesota Volleyball Hall of Fame and the following year was honored at the Minnesota State Capitol with an award at the Minnesota National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Schleuder was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2015.
