Abbey Sutherland is in her fifth season as the head volleyball coach at UW-Stevens Point and led the Pointers to back-to-back national semifinal appearances in her first two seasons.
In four seasons, Sutherland has led the Pointers to a 122-26 overall record, two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season championships, two WIAC Tournament titles and a pair of runs to the Final Four.
Last season, UWSP finished with a 27-7 record. Under Sutherland's guidance, six UW-Stevens Point players earned all-WIAC accolades.
In 2014, UW-Stevens Point was 33-5 overall, including a 21-match winning streak prior to falling to Emory in four sets in the national semifinals. The Pointers won the St. Paul Regional with sweeps of the St. Benedict and Coe before edging Cornell (Iowa) 15-11 in the fifth set to claim the regional championship for the second-straight season. At the NCAA Division III Championship in Newport News, Va., the Pointers claimed a thrilling five-set win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by a 16-14 score in the decisive fifth set.
In Sutherland’s first season of 2013, UW-Stevens Point went on the deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history to date by advancing to the national semifinals. UWSP defeated three straight top-six teams to advance to the national semifinals, before falling to Cal Lutheran. In 2013, the Pointers compiled an overall record of 35-5 and the 35 wins were the most by a UWSP team since 1985. The team won 24 straight matches prior to the loss to Cal Lutheran.
In her two seasons, Sutherland has coached two-time WIAC Player of the Year Alexis Hartman, who was UW-Stevens Point’s first-ever conference player of the year and four-time All-WIAC pick. Hartman and Emma Brunkhorst have been named All-Midwest Region performers and All-Americans by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in each of the last two seasons. Sutherland has also coached five First Team All-WIAC players, three honorable mention picks and two All-Defensive Team selections.
Prior to coming to UWSP, Sutherland spent three seasons as head coach of the Division I University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, compiling a 44-47 record. Prior to taking over the program in 2010, Sutherland spent six seasons as an assistant coach with the program, four as the team's top assistant.
Sutherland's 2011 Golden Eagles had three student-athletes earn All-Conference USA honors including first team selection and a first team all-region performer. The 2012 squad continued its academic excellence and earned its third consecutive team academic award from the AVCA and had a player earn Capital One Academic Second Team All-American accolades.
In 2010, Sutherland guided Southern Miss to a 19-12 record and a fourth-place finish in Conference USA. Sutherland is one of only two first-year head coaches in volleyball to record a winning season at Southern Miss. She placed two players on the all-conference first team.
Sutherland returns to her home state, where she was a standout setter at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wis., where she was a four-time letterwinner. She completed her career with 4,554 assists, 1,503 digs and 128 aces. Sutherland was a three-time First-Team All-Midwest Conference selection and a two-time conference Player of the Year. She twice received honorable-mention all-region honors.
Sutherland helped St. Norbert finish first in the Midwest Conference in 2002 and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She was voted her team's most valuable player as a junior and senior. She also received academic all-conference honors.
Sutherland attended West Bend High School in West Bend, Wis., where she was a three-year letterwinner in volleyball. She was a first-team all-county selection, second-team all-conference and honorable-mention all-state. She received the Coaches' and Hustle Awards. She played in the Wisconsin All-Star match and helped her team to three conference titles.
The West Bend, Wis., native received her bachelor's degree in Spanish and secondary education in 2004 from St. Norbert and a master's degree in teaching languages, with a Spanish emphasis from Southern Mississippi in 2006.
Sutherland also teaches courses in the School of Education at UWSP.
