Volleyball

Head Coach Rick Pruett

Phone: 712-274-5317

E-Mail: pruett@morningside.edu

Rick Pruett became Morningside's head volleyball coach on Dec. 5, 2006, and promptly led the Mustangs to one of their greatest seasons in school history in his first campaign with the team.

The Mustangs were one of the surprise teams in the nation during the 2007 season when they posted a 33-4 record and were ranked 15th nationally in the final NAIA poll. The Mustangs set a school record for winning percentage at .892 and opened the campaign with 15 straight victories for the most consecutive wins in school history. Morningside was the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season champion with a 14-2 league mark as well as the GPAC’s post-season tournament champion.

Pruett has a 200-182 career record in 11 seasons as a head coach at the collegiate level. He was the head coach at William Penn University for four years before he came to Morningside. Pruett has also been the head coach at Concordia University in River Forest, Ill., and at Midland Lutheran College. 

Pruett led William Penn to a pair of runner-up finishes in the Midwest Classic Conference standings over the last four years. He guided the Statesmen to a 23-17 record in 2003 and then led the team to a 24-17 record for the most wins in William Penn history and the program’s first-ever NAIA regional tournament appearance in 2004.

His coaching career began at Midland Lutheran, where he was an assistant coach for two years before he was promoted to the head post in 1997. Pruett guided the Warriors to a 19-12 record in 1997 and to a 21-13 mark in 1998.

Pruett was the head volleyball coach at Concordia from 1999 to 2002, where he took over a program that won just three matches in 1998. He led Concordia to a winning record in his third season there with a 17-15 mark, followed by a 22-17 record in 2002 for the second highest victory total in the school’s history. His 2002 team finished second nationally in the NCAA Division III with an average of 24.54 digs per game.

Pruett is a 1992 graduate of Dakota Wesleyan University.

Assistant Coach Amy Kettmann

Amy Kettmannn completed her first season as a member of the Mustangs' coaching staff in 2007, helping the team post a 33-4 record and win GPAC regular season and post-season tournament championships.

Kettmann is a 2006 graduate of Upper Iowa University, where she was a three-year varsity letterwinner and a two-year team captain for the Peacocks. She ranks second in Upper Iowa history wtih 241 career blocks and sixth in the Peacocks' record book with 514 career kills.

She was head coach for the Cobra Volleyball Club 17 and under team in West Union, Iowa, during the 2004-05 season and was co-head coach for the Cobra Volleyball Club 16 and under team in 2003-04.

Assistant Coach Jessica Vander Kooi

Jessica Vander Kooi is in her first season on the Mustangs' coaching staff.

Vander Kooi was a four-year starter at NCAA Division I University of Missouri, where she amassed 1,510 kills and 1,306 digs during her career for the second highest kill total and third highest dig total in Missouri history. Vander Kooi, who is third in the Tigers’ record book with 326 career block assists and seventh with 57 career solo blocks, averaged 3.45 kills and 2.98 digs per game during her career.

She was a three-time first-team All-Big 12 Conference performer and an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) honorable mention All-American as a junior and senior. She earned first-team AVCA All-Central Region honors as a junior and senior and honorable mention all-region laurels as a sophomore. Vander Kooi was the 2003 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and the 2003 AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year.

Vander Kooi went to Missouri following a standout prep career at Hinton High School, where she was a three-time Class 1A all-stater, earning first-team laurels as a senior, second-team honors as a junior, and fourth-team honors as a sophomore. She was named to the all-state elite team as a senior.

Assistant Coach Shelby Flick

Shelby Flick is in his second season in his second tenure as a Mustang assistant coach.

Flick was previously an assistant coach at Briar Cliff University for four seasons before his return to Morningside.