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Katie Von Hofwegen
Head Coach
Katie Van Hofwegen is poised for her eighth year at the helm of Grace College's volleyball program. She is fresh off leading the Lady Lancers to three appearances at NCCAA Nationals. Her squads are passionate about growing in their faith and in their volleyball skills, being involved on campus and giving back to the community. She has experienced tremendous success in a short time, amassing over 100 wins at the helm of the Lady Lancers.
Van Hofwegen started her career at Grace on a strong note, guiding the Lady Lancers to 19 wins in her first season and the No. 4 seed in the competitive Crossroads League. She won her first postseason game against rival Bethel to advance to the league tournament semifinals. Over the first five years of her career, Grace has averaged 19 victories per season.
In 2016, the Lady Lancers earned five All-Crossroads League awards and one All-American honor (Caylie Teel).
In 2017, Grace earned a First Team NAIA All-American honor (Alexa Hill) for the first time since 2013. The Lady Lancers reached their fourth NCCAA National Tournament in the past seven years, winning two matches in the tournament and finishing with a 23-17 record.
In 2018, the Lady Lancers made a return trip to NCCAA Nationals for the fifth time in eight years. As a team Grace finished with 22 wins. Individually, Van Hofwegen's players racked up an impressive award haul, including Crossroads League Player of the Year, NCCAA Hellings Award, CoSIDA Academic First Team All-America and NAIA All-American.
In 2019, one of Van Hofwegen's first recruits (Alexa Hill) won her second NCCAA Hellings Award -- the first time an athlete has won the prestigious honor twice in one career. Hill also went on to be named the NCCAA Game Plan 4 Life Award, the highest individual award given by the NCCAA.
In 2021, Gina Novotny graduated as the program's all-time leader in career digs under Coach Van Hofwegen's leadership.
During a COVID-shortened 2020 season, Grace found continued success at the national level. She guided the Lady Lancers to the national semifinals at NCCAA Nationals. A well-balanced squad, Grace had six players earn postseason All-League recognition.
Her teams have also excelled in the classroom, leading the league in NAIA Scholar-Athletes almost every year. Grace has had 27 Scholar-Athletes in Van Hofwegen's first five seasons, including seven in 2016 (4th-most in the NAIA).
Van Hofwegen comes from The University of Virginia-Wise (NCAA Div. II) where she served as the top assistant coach since 2012. She has a wide berth of volleyball experience that spans across the country.
Van Hofwegen played collegiate volleyball at Shorter University (Ga.). An accomplished defensive player, she was honored as the Southern States Athletic Conference Libero of the Year in 2010 and was a two-time All-Conference winner. She graduated as the school’s all-time leader in service aces (163) and was a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete with a 3.5 GPA. She also finished school ranked No. 2 in career digs with 1,536 and has the school record for most service aces in a single season with 66.
“We are very excited with the outcome of our coaching search. Katie Van Hofwegen has a tremendous background in volleyball and has enjoyed success both as a player and coach,” said Grace athletic director Chad Briscoe. “She is a teacher of the game and is fully committed to assisting student-athletes grow in all aspects of their life during their college experience. I look forward to watching our program grow and achieve success both on and off the court under her leadership.”
While at Virginia-Wise, Van Hofwegen assisted the school’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Div. II. She helped the program overcome a 7-25 record in 2012 to earn its best season in seven years during the 2014 campaign. She was responsible for recruiting, travel coordinating, game tape exchange and practice planning for the Cavaliers. She helped secure one of the best and largest recruiting classes in program history.
In 2011 Van Hofwegen served on the coaching staff at NCAA Div. III Randolph College (Va.), working extensively with recruiting, travel and practice scheduling. She also has multiple years of experience coaching club volleyball and staffing summer camps, including the Liberty University volleyball camp. She originally hails from Riverside, Calif., where she attended Riverside Christian.
“I’m excited to start this new chapter at Grace College,” Van Hofwegen said. “The volleyball program has a great tradition of success, and I plan to continue building on that tradition. I’m looking forward to meeting the team, sharing my faith with them, and leading them both spiritually and as volleyball players. I’m really grateful for this opportunity, and I’m ready to get started.”
Van Hofwegen graduated with a Master's in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2016.
Sara Bowen
Assistant Coach
Sara (Miller) Bowen has served as an assistant coach for the Lady Lancers since 2018, fresh off an impressive career for the Lady Lancers.
Bowen was an anchor on Grace's backrow from 2014-17, racking up 1,967 career digs to rank No. 3 all-time. Her 766 digs as a senior in 2017 set a single-season program record.
Bowen won multiple All-Conference honors and was also a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete for her excellence in the classroom.
She helped Grace reach a pair of NCCAA National Championships, including as a freshman and senior. The Lady Lancers won 86 victories during her four-year career.
Mike Alejado
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Mike has been a PAVO volleyball official for over a decade.
Sierra Mansfield
Graduate Assistant
Sierra Mansfield joined the Lady Lancers’ coaching staff as a graduate assistant in the summer of 2022. Mansfield played collegiately at Cedarville University from 2017-20.
As a two-time captain for the Yellow Jackets, she distributed the attack as the setter and ranks eighth in career assists with 2,570. Her impressive career was cut short due to COVID-19 moving the 2020 season.
As a junior, she recorded 900 assists, 218 digs and 20 service aces. During her sophomore year, she tallied 20-plus assists in every match amassing 919 assists for the season. Mansfield earned G-MAC Academic All-Conference honors each of her four seasons.
She is native of Grant, Mich., where she earned all-state honors twice and led her team to four league titles and four district championships.
"Sierra will be a great addition to our staff and program! Her love for the Lord is so evident and her enthusiasm for the game is contagious. We are excited to implement her setting knowledge into our training to help advance our offense," said Grace head coach Katie Van Hofwegen.