Florida’s Mary Wise Division I Wins Leader Among Female Head Coaches

University of Florida head coach Mary Wise has made history again. After earlier this year becoming just the 4th coach to win 800 Division I games at the same school, on Wednesday she won her 887th career NCAA Division I game – more than any other female head coach in the history of women’s volleyball.

The Gators used 12 blocks and 10 aces to pull out the 3-1 win over SEC rivals Texas A&M. That moved her past legendary BYU coach Elaine Michaelis (1969-2001) for the most ever by a female head coach in Division I volleyball history. It also moved Wise past Michaelis for the 8th-most wins in Division I history and 14th-most wins in NCAA history (all divisions).

Wise, the coach of the only undefeated team left in Division I this season at 12-0, is just 1 win away from catching John Dunning – who retired last year after leading Stanford to a national title – for 7th on the all-time Division 1 rankings.

Only Penn State’s Russ Rose has a higher winning percentage among active coaches than does Wise. In his 39th season, Rose has amassed a 1226-196 record (.862 winning percentage). Wise, in her 31st season, has an .845 winning percentage. That’s also good for 4th all time, behind Rose, Shoji, and former Stanford coach Don Shaw, who only lost 70 games in 16 seasons at Stanford (fewer than 5 losses per season).

In Wednesday’s win over Texas A&M, Wise beat a long-time coaching colleague Laurie Corbelli at Texas A&M. Corbelli, in her 32nd season as a head coach, has 613 career wins – which ranks her 18th among active coaches

The Gators’ next big test, and their biggest hurdle en route to an undefeated regular season, comes on October 15th against Kentucky. The Wildcats are the only other team that is undefeated in SEC games this season, and are ranked #11 in the country.

All-Time NCAA D1 Wins Rankings:

1. Russ Rose, Penn State (1979-current) – 1,213*
2. Dave Shoji, Hawaii (1975-2016) – 1,202
3. Andy Banachowski (UCLA 1966-68, 1970-2009) – 1,106
4. Shelton Collier (Pitt 1980-1988, Georgia Tech 1991-2001, Wingate 2002-current) – 932*
5. Mick Haley (Texas 1980-1996, USC 2001-current) – 932*
6. Mike Hebert (Pitt 1976-79, New Mexico 1980-82, Illinois 1983-95, Minnesota 1996-2010) – 892
7. John Dunning (Pacific 1985-2000, Stanford 2001-2016) – 888
8. Mary Wise (Iowa St. 1981-1984, Florida 1991-current) – 887
9. Elaine Michaels (BYU 1969-2001) – 886
10. Kathy Gregory (UCSB 1969-2001) – 882

* – Active Coaches