Volleyball begins under new regime

For the first time in nearly three decades, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball program is under new leadership. 

Jon Stenman is the interim head coach for the 2016 season, replacing the retiring Deb Schulman, who coached 28 years.

Stenman is in his second year at UW-Platteville, as he served as an assistant coach. Yvette Updike, the former Platteville High School coach, joins the Pioneer staff as an assistant.

The new staff has begun preseason practice with the Pioneers, who begin their season Sept. 2-3 in Newport News, Virginia.

Stenman has 12 years of experience as a volleyball coach with stints in every major four year classification (NCAA Division 1, D2, D3 and NAIA).  Prior to last year's season with UW-Platteville, he was at Dickinson State University in North Dakota, where he served as the head coach and as an instructor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department.  During his two years at the helm, Stenman had nine academic all-conference winners. 

Prior to Dickinson State, Stenman led Centenary College in its final year of NCAA I and as a member of The Summit League in 2010. In its first season as an NCAA III member,  the team finished  14-14 in 2011, marking the highest single-season win total in the volleyball program's history in the last 13 years.

Stenman also had head coaching experience at Coker, a Division II program, in South Carolina. At Texas A&M University,  he was the head coach of the women's club volleyball team and physical education instructor.  Stenman served as the assistant coach at Shenandoah University for four seasons before his stint at Texas A&M.

A native of Rochester, New York, Stenman has a Bachelor's of Science degree from Shenandoah and Master's of Science in Kinesiology from Texas A&M.  Before beginning his career as a coach and instructor, Stenman was a member of the United States Marine Corps for four years and was a two-time member of the All-Marine Volleyball team. Stenman also serves as a lecturer in the Department of Health and Human Performance.   

Updike joins the UW-Platteville staff in 2016 after a very successful high school career. She has worked in the educational arena for the past 24 years. She was the head coach at Platteville High School for seven years (2008-14) with a record of 183-81. She led the Hillmen to the 2014 WIAA Division 2 sectional championship, the state semifinals and a 40-6 record. Twice, her teams won conference championships, and she guided three regional championship squads. Prior to coaching at Platteville, she coached 1999-2005 at Fennimore High School with a record of 115-70. 

Updike earned her Bachelor's of Science Degree in Finance in 2008 from Upper Iowa University and her  Master's of Education in School Business Administration in 2012 from UW-Whitewater.

Written by: Paul Erickson, UW-Platteville Communications, 608.342.1194, ericksop@uwplatt.edu