One of the greatest girls volleyball coaches in the nation, Steve Shondell, has been inducted into the 2017 Class of National High School’s Hall of Fame.
In his 34 years at Muncie (Indiana) Burris High School (1976-2009), Shondell accumulated an impressive 1,183 matches won and only 95 losses. His 92.7 winning percentage is the highest among all high school coaches that have at least 700 wins.
Shondell led the team to 21 Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) state championships. The first eight of his state titles came in a single class system, where Burris, a school that has less than 300 students, competed against all school in the state. On top of the 21 state titles, Shondell’s teams also won four USA Volleyball National Championships. To close out his career, Shondell won 13 consecutive state titles and posted seven undefeated seasons. In his final season with the Owls, Shondell led Burris to a perfect 40-0 record and finished the season as the national runner-up.
Nationally, Shondell ranks seventh in coaching victories.
After the conclusion of his high school coaching career, Shondell went on to coach the women’s volleyball team at Ball State University, his alma mater. He led the team for six years before retiring in March 2016. While with Ball State, Shondell helped the team redirect into a championship squad, posting a 119-68 record over his six seasons. The team won the 2010 Mid-American Conference regular season title, earned an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship and earned a share of the 2013 MAC West Division title. In his first season with Ball State, Shondell was named as the 2010 MAC Coach of the Year after guiding the team to a 24-5 record on the year – the third-best winning percentage (.828) in program history.
On top of his winning successes, Shondell receiving a plethora of awards, including being named National High School Volleyball Coach of the Year twice and was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007.
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