The Rockhurst volleyball program has been in great hands the past 32 years with Tracy Rietzke as the head coach. The Hawks have averaged more than 34 wins per season and advanced to post-season play 26 times under Rietzke.
Rietzke currently ranks second among active NCAA Division II women’s volleyball coaches in total victories (1,277-285) and sixth in all-time winning percentage (.818) among Division II coaches. He also ranks fourth in career victories for all three levels of NCAA women's volleyball head coaches.
Since 1988, Rietzke has guided the Hawks to a 1,105-229 record (.828). Since beginning play as an NCAA Division II member in 1998, the Hawks have posted a 647-167 record and played in 13 NCAA national tournaments while advancing to the NCAA D2 national semifinals in 2017 and 2019.
Rietzke was named the USMC/AVCA Division II National Coach of the Year in 2019. He was also selected Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2012, Heartland Conference Coach of the Year twice (2002 and 2004), and AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year twice (1993 and 1994).
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Rietzke was the recipient of the NCAA Division II South Central Region Coach of the Year in 1999 and Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2014. He is a five-time NAIA District Coach of the Year honoree (1990-94). In 1995 and 1996, Rietzke was recognized as the NAIA Midwest Independent Coach of the Year.
The Hawks have finished in the Division II Top 25 poll 11 times since joining the NCAA in 1998. Rockhurst advanced to the NCAA regional finals 10 times: 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Hawks have won three GLVC Tournament championships (2012, 2018 and 2019), while capturing three NCAA regional championships (2015, 2017 and 2019).
Rietzke also served as head coach of the Rockhurst women’s basketball team from 1988-96. The Hawks recorded a 206-45 record in his eight seasons and played in five NAIA national tournaments.
A 1977 graduate of Kansas Wesleyan University, Rietzke was an All-American in basketball and led the nation in field-goal percentage in his senior year. He has been featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd as an athlete (Feb. 23, 1976) and as a coach (Sept. 28, 2010).
Prior to his arrival at Rockhurst, Rietzke coached volleyball, basketball and softball at Kansas Wesleyan from 1982-88. His volleyball teams won 172 games. He was inducted into the Kansas Wesleyan Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986. Rietzke and his wife, Cindy, live in Kansas City, Mo. They have two daughters: Kylie and Morgan, who both played on the Rockhurst volleyball team.
