UTSA volleyball has added Kim Mace, a veteran high school head coach and a member of the USC Upstate Hall of Fame as one of the top players in program history, to the 2020-21 coaching staff as the volunteer assistant, it was announced by head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff on Nov. 10, 2020.
“We are thrilled to add Kim to our coaching staff for 2020-21,” Neugebauer-Groff said. “She brings a great veteran coaching presence to our program and adds a tremendous perspective for our student-athletes. The energy of our new three new assistant coaches, including Jeff Fiorenza and Andrew Sato, has been a great aspect of our hard work in the gym in the preseason.”
Mace, one of the top players in the history of USC Upstate, joins the UTSA coaching staff for the 2020-21 season. She has twice served as an assistant coach at her alma matter (2002, 2011-12) and served as the head coach at Shadow Mountain High School (Ariz.) from 2008-10. She served as the head coach at Capital High School in Charleston, W.Va., leading her team to the state tournament in each of her two seasons (2014-15). She coached the 17U club at the Appalachian Volleyball Academy in 2017.
“I’d like to thank Coach Groff for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the UTSA volleyball family,” Mace said. “Everyone has been so welcoming. All of the coaches bring so much knowledge and energy to the gym and the players are responding with hard work, competitive drive and positive attitudes. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season where we can apply everything we’ve learned and continue to grow as a team.”
Mace enjoyed an historic career at USC Upstate and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. As a player, she led the Spartans to two-straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in 2000 and 2001.
She began her career in 2000 after transferring to USC Upstate from Southwestern Illinois College and had an instant impact for the then-Lady Rifles, helping lead the program to back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in 2000 and 2001.
Mace was a middle hitter and helped the program to an impressive 49-19 record in her two seasons on the Spartanburg campus. She was a two-time first team All-Peach Belt Conference selection and was named the league’s Player of the Year in2001.
In 2001, Mace helped lead the team to a second-place finish in the Peach Belt regular-season race and a 25-8 overall mark. Mace turned in one of the best seasons in the history of the program during the season, finishing second in school history in single-season total kills (535, 115 sets), kills per set (4.65, 115sets) and attack percentage (.408). In one match during the 2001 season, she posted 29 kills, which is tied for the second-most kills in an individual match in program history.
Mace turned in a spectacular junior season in 2000, amassing 341 kills and 123 total blocks in her inaugural season with the program. It was her play, in part, that helped secure the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
For her career, Mace posted 875-career kills in just two seasons. The mark was only 33 kills short of being included on the school’s all-time career list. Pitman also holds the career mark in attack percentage (.384), finished fourth in school history in kills-per-set (3.71), ninth in career points (679.0) and 10th in career blocks (270, 236 career sets).
After finishing her career in 2001, she remained in Spartanburg as assistant coach in the fall of 2002 while finishing her bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology. She helped coach the squad to a 22-10 overall record and an appearance in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
Starting in 2003, she spent three years as an assistant coach at Collinsville High School in Illinois from 2003-06. She also coached the Southern Heat Volleyball Club 15-under squad and advanced to nationals in 2006. She left Collinsville in 2006 and moved to Arizona where she served as the assistant coach at Fountain Hills High School from 2006-08 and head coach Shadow Mountain High School from 2009-10, coaching the team to an appearance in the state tournament in 2010.
“We are thrilled to add Kim to our coaching staff for 2020-21,” Neugebauer-Groff said. “She brings a great veteran coaching presence to our program and adds a tremendous perspective for our student-athletes. The energy of our new three new assistant coaches, including Jeff Fiorenza and Andrew Sato, has been a great aspect of our hard work in the gym in the preseason.”
Mace, one of the top players in the history of USC Upstate, joins the UTSA coaching staff for the 2020-21 season. She has twice served as an assistant coach at her alma matter (2002, 2011-12) and served as the head coach at Shadow Mountain High School (Ariz.) from 2008-10. She served as the head coach at Capital High School in Charleston, W.Va., leading her team to the state tournament in each of her two seasons (2014-15). She coached the 17U club at the Appalachian Volleyball Academy in 2017.
“I’d like to thank Coach Groff for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the UTSA volleyball family,” Mace said. “Everyone has been so welcoming. All of the coaches bring so much knowledge and energy to the gym and the players are responding with hard work, competitive drive and positive attitudes. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season where we can apply everything we’ve learned and continue to grow as a team.”
Mace enjoyed an historic career at USC Upstate and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. As a player, she led the Spartans to two-straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in 2000 and 2001.
She began her career in 2000 after transferring to USC Upstate from Southwestern Illinois College and had an instant impact for the then-Lady Rifles, helping lead the program to back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in 2000 and 2001.
Mace was a middle hitter and helped the program to an impressive 49-19 record in her two seasons on the Spartanburg campus. She was a two-time first team All-Peach Belt Conference selection and was named the league’s Player of the Year in2001.
In 2001, Mace helped lead the team to a second-place finish in the Peach Belt regular-season race and a 25-8 overall mark. Mace turned in one of the best seasons in the history of the program during the season, finishing second in school history in single-season total kills (535, 115 sets), kills per set (4.65, 115sets) and attack percentage (.408). In one match during the 2001 season, she posted 29 kills, which is tied for the second-most kills in an individual match in program history.
Mace turned in a spectacular junior season in 2000, amassing 341 kills and 123 total blocks in her inaugural season with the program. It was her play, in part, that helped secure the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
For her career, Mace posted 875-career kills in just two seasons. The mark was only 33 kills short of being included on the school’s all-time career list. Pitman also holds the career mark in attack percentage (.384), finished fourth in school history in kills-per-set (3.71), ninth in career points (679.0) and 10th in career blocks (270, 236 career sets).
After finishing her career in 2001, she remained in Spartanburg as assistant coach in the fall of 2002 while finishing her bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology. She helped coach the squad to a 22-10 overall record and an appearance in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
Starting in 2003, she spent three years as an assistant coach at Collinsville High School in Illinois from 2003-06. She also coached the Southern Heat Volleyball Club 15-under squad and advanced to nationals in 2006. She left Collinsville in 2006 and moved to Arizona where she served as the assistant coach at Fountain Hills High School from 2006-08 and head coach Shadow Mountain High School from 2009-10, coaching the team to an appearance in the state tournament in 2010.