When Anne Kordes was named the ninth head volleyball coach at Saint Louis University, she brought a relentless work ethic and unbridled enthusiasm to the Billiken sideline. And in just three seasons on the job, Kordes has already taken the program to new heights with its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006. Her most recent campaign featured a number of firsts as she led the Billikens to 22 wins, the most since 1999, a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season crown, the program's first A-10 Tournament title and SLU's first berth in the NCAA Tournament. Her peers in the conference recognized her performance by selecting her as the A-10 Coach of the Year. Kordes' efforts on the recruiting trail also paid off as freshmen Whitney Behrens, Sammi McCloud and Whitney Roth were named to the league's All-Rookie team with McCloud garnering Rookie of the Year accolades. All three were also selected to the A-10 All-Tournament team. McCloud, who was singled out as the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and registered the only triple-double in the league in 2006, also was selected as the AVCA Northeast Region Freshman of the Year. Meanwhile, seniors Tatyana Menshikova and Angela Powers were each named First Team All-Conference, while Roth and McCloud earned honorable mention accolades. Menshikova also went on to receive All-Region first team honors en route to being the second Billiken to achieve AVCA All-America plaudits under Kordes. In Kordes' second year, she put together a challenging schedule that included seven teams that reached the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The Billikens finished with 14 wins and fifth overall in the Atlantic 10 Conference. She coached Menshikova to first-team All-Atlantic 10 and All-District honors, and Lauren Christman was selected to the A-10 All-Rookie team. Kordes also assisted Erin McClanahan in earning A-10 Volleyball All-Academic honors. In her first season at the helm of the Billiken program in 2004, Kordes immediately pushed Saint Louis into in the Conference USA race. The Bills finished with 15 wins, placed sixth in the C-USA regular season and reached the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. One of the season's highlights occurred when the Billikens ended Cincinnati's 23-match home winning streak. Kordes also coached the first All-American in program history when Aida Antanaviciute earned honors from the AVCA. Kordes was introduced to the sport at age eight by her father, Ron Kordes, who has been a coach at the grade school, high school and club levels. When she was 13, she traveled to club tournaments with her father and was forced to wait around until his U-18 team finished competing. It was then that she took notice of the college coaches recruiting the older players and seriously started thinking about coaching. Playing for her father, Kordes was a standout at Assumption High School in her hometown of Louisville, Ky. Her play attracted the attention of numerous college coaches. Kordes attended the University of Cincinnati and had an immediate impact with the Bearcats. She was named the 1994 Great Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year. Kordes set the conference record for most assists by a sophomore with 1,575 and was named second-team All-Conference USA. However, after a two-year stint with the Bearcats, she transferred to her hometown school, the University of Louisville. With the Cardinals, Kordes' playing career took off. As a senior, she led UofL to the C-USA Tournament championship and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 21 and finished with a 29-5 slate. During her four-year career, Kordes' teams recorded a 91-37 record (a .711 winning percentage). She closed out her career with 4,874 assists, 886 digs and 128 service aces and was a three-time All-Conference USA selection. Not only was Kordes a standout athlete, she was an excellent student. She was a member of the UofL Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester and was a Red and Black Scholar-Athlete. Kordes was twice selected to the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. Kordes began her coaching career in 1999 when Indiana hired her as an assistant coach. However, her stay in Bloomington was short-lived. Before even sitting on the bench with the Hoosiers, she had the opportunity to take on a recruiting position at the University of Illinois. Kordes then spent the next five seasons with the Fighting Illini. She served as the top assistant at Illinois from 1999-2003 and coached two All-Americans. During her five-year stint, the Illini qualified for the NCAA Tournament three times and posted a 90-61 record. In 2003, Kordes helped them to a 26-7 record and a No. 15 final national ranking. Illinois reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, where they were eliminated by No. 2 Hawaii. Kordes has been visible on the national coaching scene, serving as a coach for USA Volleyball summer programs. Last winter, USA Volleyball chose her to be an assistant coach for the Girls' Youth National Team, which competed at the 2007 FIVB Girls' Youth National Championships from August 3-12 in Baja California, Mexico. In 2000, she was the assistant coach for the Youth National team, and in 2001 she was an assistant for the Junior National Team. Kordes served as an assistant in 2002 and 2003 for the National A2 Collegiate Program. During the summer of 2003, she served as the assistant coach for the High Performance #2 team, the head coach for the High Performance #3 team as well as head coach for the Youth National A3 team. Kordes added to her budding list of impressive coaching duties when she was the only college coach named as an assistant to the USA Junior National Team in 2004. She had the opportunity to coach some of the nation's best young players and accompanied the squad to an international tournament played in Ankara, Turkey, in late July 2005. Kordes was also tabbed an assistant coach for the USA Select Team for the summer of 2006. She helped with the team's training and competition at the USA High Performance Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Kordes received her bachelor's degree in athletic administration from the University of Louisville in 1998, and she earned a master's degree in athletic administration from Louisville in 2001. She married Matt Hayden on May 20, 2006, in a ceremony in Louisville, Ky. |
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