One of a Kind
STANFORD, Calif. – Denise Corlett, who served as a member of the Stanford women's volleyball coaching staff for 31 seasons, has been selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Hall of Fame.
Corlett is the first assistant coach to ever receive the prestigious honor and a member of the AVCA's 18th Hall of Fame Class. She is joined by Chris Catanach (University of Tampa), Rich Kern (RichKern.com) and Ron Kordes (Assumption High School). The 2020 class was recognized virtually in conjunction with the AVCA Convention on December 17.
During Corlett's tenure, the Cardinal was 875-146 (.857) and won an unprecedented nine NCAA titles and 18 Pac-12 championships. The Cardinal twice won three NCAA titles in a four-year span with Corlett on the sidelines (1994, 1996-97 and 2016, 2018-19). The conference crowns include six in a row between 1994-99, and, more recently, 10 out of the past 14 seasons.
"I've always felt that a key component to success in leadership is surrounding yourself with people who not only can handle the parts of the job that you realize you're not good at, while at the same time share your vision and being able to bring their own perspective during respectful collaboration," said former Stanford head coach Don Shaw, who served at the helm of the Cardinal women's program from 1984-99. "One of the best decisions I made during my tenure at Stanford was bringing Denise on board."
A two-time AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Corlett coached in 14 national championship matches at Stanford, helped lead the team to 17 Final Fours and guided 38 players to 93 AVCA All-America awards. She has helped mentor 10 Cardinal national players of the year to a combined 17 awards.
"We are all extremely excited for Denise's induction into the AVCA Hall of Fame," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "There is no question that her impact on the sport is hall of fame-worthy and we are lucky that the bulk of that impact was here at Stanford.
"Serving as the recruiting coordinator for nine national championship teams is an unmatchable feat. Her focus was always on the student-athletes, without ever needing the public recognition that came from the success that consistently surrounded her."
Corlett also made a name for herself at the national level having represented the United States as a player and a coach. She competed on the U.S. National Team in 1982 and 1983. In 1993 she served as an assistant coach for the silver medalist U.S. National Team at the World University Games as well as the 1997 World University Games squad. She was tabbed an assistant coach for the 2003 Pan American Games team and has spent time with several U.S. Junior National Team programs as an assistant coach and as the head of delegation.
Prior to coming to The Farm, Corlett served as an assistant at San Jose State during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, leading the Spartans to two NCAA Tournament appearances. Before her tenure at San Jose State, she spent five years assisting at UCLA, her alma mater, where she served as a graduate assistant for two years and a volunteer assistant for three seasons.
A three-sport athlete for the Bruins, she won national championships in badminton and women's basketball, and was a three-time volleyball All-American. Corlett was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
The AVCA annually recognizes those individuals who have reached the pinnacle of their profession and the sport with AVCA Hall of Fame induction. The first AVCA Hall of Fame class, a total of 23 individuals who had earned either the AVCA Founders Award or AVCA Excellence in Education Award, were honored at the 2003 AVCA Convention.