Piedmont University Athletics

Katie O'Brien-Chapman - Head Coach - Volleyball (Bio at time of induction)
Coach Katie came to Piedmont College from Parnell, IA to serve as an assistant coach in 1999 under then Head Volleyball Coach Terry Martin, Piedmont's current softball coach.  After just one season on staff, O'Brien was named the head coach of the Lady Lion volleyball program as her potential to develop a still young program was recognized early on.

Her first season at the helm featured an 18-16 record with a 10-4 mark in conference play, a record that represented the first winning season in the program's history.  In six of her eight seasons as the head coach of the green and gold, the Lady Lions finished with 20 or more wins.

During Piedmont's association with the NCCAA, O'Brien-Chapman had eight scholar-athletes and nine NCCAA regional players while garnering the organization's #15 national ranking in 2001.  The following year, Piedmont was the South Region's runner-up while Katie was named the South Regional Volleyball Chair in 2003 and 2005.

In 2007, O'Brien-Chapman guided the Lady Lions to the program's first-ever NCAA Division III National Tournament appearance along the way to capturing a pair of GSAC tournament championships, one in 2007 and the other in 2001.  Twice voted GSAC Coach of the Year ('05, '07), Katie mentored 36 Academic All-Conference selections, 22 All-Conference honorees, and 12 All-Freshman picks as well as a trio of GSAC Freshman of the Year and a Conference Player of the Year. 

Katie developed some of the program's most memorable players including volleyball's first Hall of Fame inductee, Katie Gibbs and this year's latest HOF addition, fellow inductee Jacque DeMarrais.

During Coach Katie’s career at Piedmont, her players were also known for their success in the classroom as her teams' cumulative grade-point average was 3.32 over the eight years of her tenure. The 2006-07 season saw her team earn the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) Game Plan Academic Team Award as the squad carried a 3.42 cumulative GPA.

Prior to beginning her coaching career, O'Brien-Chapman was a standout volleyball player at NCAA Division I member University of Iowa. She was ranked 14th on the Hawkeyes career blocks list and 13th in career attack percentage. Additionally, O'Brien posted back-to-back top-10 finishes in the Big-10 Conference in blocks per game (1997, 1998). 

The feared Hawkeye totaled 11 blocks vs. Northwestern on November 14, 1998, a mark which stands in the top five of Iowa volleyball history in that category.  O'Brien-Chapman is also tied for 17th in program history in attack percentage and also holds the 17th spot in all time blocks.  Katie also took down the Golden I-Book Award during the 1996 season.

Following the completion of the 2007 NCAA National Tournament run, O'Brien-Chapman was named the next Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Montevallo, a Division II school in Alabama.  In 2011, she coached UM’s first Peach Belt Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, which is the highest individual award the PBC gives out each year. She also coached UM’s first female First Team Academic All-American in school history. 

In 2010, the University of Montevallo not only made it to the NCAA tournament but won their first round match-up with Lincoln Memorial University. That victory represented the first win in NCAA postseason play for the Falcons in the volleyball program's history.

Coach Katie received her Bachelor of Science degree in Sports, Health, Leisure and Physical Studies from the University of Iowa in 1999. She then earned her Master of Business Administration in Public Administration from Piedmont in 2001.

In 2005, Coach Katie married Freddie Chapman whom she met while they were working at Piedmont College. They currently reside in Calera, AL, near the University of Montevallo Campus where Katie serves as the Division II school's Head Volleyball Coach.  Heading toward her 6th season in that role this fall, she has amassed a 275-189 career record and led her Falcons to a Peach Belt Conference tournament appearance in 2012