Shondell the Godfather of Indiana Volleyball

By Dave Krider

MaxPreps.com

Steve Shondell rightfully can be called the "godfather" of Indiana high school volleyball and two generations of Shondells are recognized throughout the USA as the "first family of volleyball."

Shondell entered his 32nd season this fall as head girls coach at Muncie Burris with a magnificent record of 1,070 victories and only 88 losses. He has more victories than any other Indiana coach in any sport. The previous record was 1,010 wins by retired LaPorte baseball coach Ken Schreiber.

The 53-year-old coach probably holds every major volleyball coaching record in the state. For example, he has won 18 state championships - the last 10 in a row. Eight of those titles came in a single-class system, the last 10 in Class 2A. His teams also mounted a 135-match winning streak in the early 1990s. They were crowned national champions in 1990, 1992, 1997 and 2004.

Shondell has been named Indiana Coach of the Year 10 times and is the 2007 National Coach of the Year. All these honors will be dwarfed, however, when he becomes the second high school coach inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 16 at the NCAA Final Four in Sacramento, Calif. The first prep coach honored was Louise Crocco of Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

"When they called me I had no idea a high school coach could be inducted," Shondell said humbly.

His credentials actually extend far beyond coaching high school girls. Coaching the Munciana club team (which he originated in 1974) in the off season, Shondell turned out national 14-and-under champions in 1989, 1990 and 1996 and national 12-and-under champions in 2005 and 2006.

Steve's father, Don Shondell, long ago was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He started boys volleyball at Ball State University in 1959 (it was a club sport until 1964) and still is head coach at age 78. Steve calls him the "Joe Paterno of college volleyball." Steve's younger brother Dave is head women's volleyball coach at Purdue University and a third brother, John, is his assistant.

Don Shondell points out proudly that Steve "organized the first (AAU) girls team in our state. He was playing for me at Ball State when he was asked to put together a team (from Muncie) to play in the AAU Junior Olympics at Catonsville, Md. The Munciana junior program was one of the best in the country until about five years ago. We just dominated all divisions. Now the big cities are starting to catch up."

Dave Shondell, who is four years younger than Steve, points out, "I certainly followed him a lot. I emulated a lot of what Steve did. I was able to watch his behavior and work ethic. We're both coaches and teachers, but much different in personalities. Our name is very well respected. We can go anywhere in the country (and doors will open)."

Referring to Steve's upcoming hall of fame induction, Dave said, "I don't think he even realizes the significance. It's a huge honor. It is very well deserved. Anybody in the volleyball world knows Steve is one of the best coaches in the country. He's a phenomenal coach and I was fortunate to learn a lot from him. Even people who have been beaten by him year after year, you won't find anybody who has anything bad to say about him."

Shondell was born in Rolla, Mo., but has lived in Muncie since he was five years old. He began going to Ball State practices and games with his father and became a mascot of sorts. His jobs included wiping off chalk marks from gymnastics and mopping the gym floor. His reward: the players stuffed him in the ball box or in their lockers. "I tried to stay out of the locker room," he said.

Though he had been playing three sports, Shondell added volleyball as a seventh grader at Storer Junior High. He organized a boys team called "Duncan's Dinkers" and his father allowed the Dinkers to play in the Ball State intramural volleyball league. The seventh grade upstarts won the league title, "which made the college students unhappy," Shondell understated.

At Muncie North High School, the 5-11, 145-pound Shondell lettered three times in basketball (point guard) and baseball (second base), two times in tennis (No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles) and once in football (starting quarterback as a sophomore before being injured).

His biggest thrill, however, was organizing a boys club volleyball team which won the Indiana High School Coaches Association state championship during his junior and senior years. He was an outside hitter. "It was a wonderful source of pride," he noted, even though boys volleyball was not an official high school sport.

Shondell graduated from North Side in 1973 and headed for nearby Ball State to play for his father "because volleyball had been such a major part of my life." Three other members of his club team also joined him at BSU. He started for three years and as a freshman he was a member of a team which reached the Final Four in Santa Barbara, Calif. His junior-year record of 21-2 still is the school's best-ever.

Don Shondell undoubtedly had the greatest influence on Steve's desire to coach. "I used to work with him all the time," Don related. "I told him, `If you're good at athletics, you can become a leader, a role model and affect other people's lives."

Steve actually coached his first sport - junior girls softball - as a high school senior. The team was winless in 11 games when he and Dave took over and it placed second in the season-ending tournament. "I had a really good experience and good rapport with the girls on the team," he said of that first taste.

As a college freshman, he began working with many of the same girls in volleyball and his reputation was sealed. That's why he was asked as a college sophomore to step in and coach the Muncie Burris High School girls volleyball team due to a mid-season emergency. As a college junior, he was named full-time coach at Burris and has been there ever since. He was named co-MVP as a senior at BSU and graduated in 1977.

A disturbing cycle already had started, however, because his Burris team always lost to North Side in the sectional playoffs. He coached many of the North Side girls on his club team during the off season.

The Burris Owls finally won their first state title in 1982 and Shondell still calls that championship his greatest thrill. "We crushed North Side (in the sectional). I can't tell you how good that felt," he laughed.

Once the Owls became an established power, there was no stopping them. From 1989-92 they lost only once. That was a 1991 semistate defeat against Tiffany Gooden-led Fort Wayne Snider. The temperature reached 95 degrees that night and more than 1,000 fans had to be turned away from the overflow Gaston Wes-Del gym.

Steve created a monster and Muncie has become a true volleyball hotbed. In fact, the Shondells had some heated internal moments, too, because Dave and John also became high school volleyball coaches. Their matches against Steve were somewhat legendary.

When Dave was coaching at Muncie Central, his match against brother Steve often determined the eventual state champion. "There was a time when Burris attracted a lot of the great players around Delaware County," Dave noted. "Sometimes I'd get irritated. It created some ill feelings. It got a lot better when we went to class sports. It was so nice not to be across the net from each other."

Burris, a Ball State lab school, has a maximum 750 students in grades K-12. Three hundred of those students are in the Academy (grades 11-12) and very few volleyball players come from that group, so the potential talent pool has been cut considerably.

"Omigosh, half of the city would love to go to Burris," Shondell exclaimed. "If we have an opening now, it's done by public lottery. It's made Delaware County a great volleyball area. We have eight schools and most of them always are in the (state's) top 10. All those schools now have great coaches and great programs."

Shondell estimates that he has sent at least 80 players to college on scholarship - many to top Division I programs - and another 20 who have either walked on or gone to small schools. Two of his most famous players were Sacha Caldemeyer, who was National Player of the Year in 1992 and was an All-America pick at the University of Pacific; and Angie Kammer, who played on two Final Four teams at Penn State.

His hobbies are "watching the (Chicago) Cubs and fishing." He also serves as public address announcer for Ball State men's volleyball and boys and girls basketball at Burris. He began ushering at Muncie's College Avenue United Methodist Church when he was 15 years old and has been head usher for the past 25 years. "I've always tried to be a strong Christian and set good examples for the athletes I have coached," he said. "I want to be a good leader of young kids."

Those "kids" have been his life since he was a teenager. Though he never married, he has a huge family of former students whom he has impacted not only on the volleyball court but in life itself.

Football Notes

* St. Stanislaus (Bay St. Louis, Miss.) sophomore quarterback Dylan Favre apparently is a chip off the old block. The nephew of NFL star Brett Favre, Dylan passed for 278 yards and four touchdowns during a 35-21 victory over Bay High. The heated rivalry produced a huge 285 yards in penalties and some harsh words from both coaching staffs. The 5-10 standout has thrown 17 touchdown passes for 4-0 St. Stanislaus.

* Muscular freshman Adonis Ameen Moore made his mark on national television when he rebounded from two fumbles to run for three fourth-quarter touchdowns as Mullen (Denver, Colo.) defeated Cherry Creek (Englewood), 28-14, before a crowd of 8,000. Moore, the first freshman ever to start for coach Dave Logan, ran 21 times for 126 yards. Junior quarterback Tim Tancik started for the first time and passed for 204 yards.

* Aurora Smoky Hill quarterback Robert Felberg set a Colorado state record by passing for 572 yards (39-for-45) and seven touchdowns during a 52-49 victory over Boulder Fairview. The previous record was 559 yards. His 39 completions and seven touchdowns tied state records.

* Senior Tyler Jackson had a defender's dream quarter as Douglas County (Castle Rock, Colo.) defeated Aurora Rangeview, 48-36. In the third quarter he intercepted three passes and returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown.

* Madison (San Antonio, Texas) senior Devin Thomas ran for 192 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, was crowned homecoming king at halftime, then deservingly sat out the remainder of a 62-0 rout of San Antonio Lee.

* Jake Wieclaw kicked field goals of 35 and 31 yards as New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais, 34-7, to set an Illinois state record with 45 career field goals.In Kentucky Pineville Bell County kicker Monte Merrick drilled a school-record 56-yard field goal during a 24-0 victory over Mt. Vernon Rockcastle County. It was just two yards short of the state record.Moving to Georgia, senior Adam Shreiner kicked a school-record 58-yard field goal as Marietta Walton upset Roswell, 13-10.

* St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) senior Will Hill, ranked as the nation's No. 1 safety, has made a commitment to the University of Florida.Win some - lose some: Smyrna, Tenn., senior wide receiver Rodriguez Wilks has chosen Tennessee over Florida and South Carolina.Chandler, Ariz., defensive back Marc Anthony has made a commitment to the University of California.

* Following the end of its 49-game winning streak, Carroll (Southlake, Texas) rebounded with a 49-42 victory over Rockwall as senior quarterback Riley Dodge passed for 387 yards and seven touchdowns. Blake Cantu caught 12 for 221 yards and three touchdowns.Longview, Texas, snapped a 27-game winning streak by defeating John Curtis (River Ridge, La.), 24-20.

There were nine lead changes as Mentor outlasted Massillon Washington, 56-52, in an Ohio headliner.Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) coach Gerry Rardin recorded his 200th coaching victory with a 44-27 triumph over Parma Padua.Calabasas defeated Oxnard Channel Islands, 28-14, to end a 44-game losing streak - just two short of the California state record held by Moorpark.

Basketball Notes

* Three juniors - 6-9 DeMarcus Cousins, 6-7 Christian Watford and point guard Josh Pritchett - who transferred to Clay-Chalkville this fall have been ruled ineligible by the Alabama High School Athletic Association for rules violations. The 234-pound Cousins is one of the most highly-recruited juniors in the country and Watford also is a top-50 recruit.

* Monique Oliver has transferred to California girls powerhouse Long Beach Poly. The 6-3 junior averaged an impressive 26.7 points and 13.5 rebounds last year at Cheyenne (Las Vegas, Nev.).

* Would you believe: Our Saviour Lutheran (Bronx, N.Y.) has fired coach Oswald Cross because his team is too good and officials felt the small, private school didn't have the resources to support a national power.Alta (Sandy, Utah) coach Tony Cannon will miss the upcoming season because his National Guard unit is being reactivated and will be sent to Afghanistan. He missed the 2003 state championship season while serving in Iraq.   

* Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) boasts three of the top 13 juniors in the East according to national recruiting guru Tom Konchalski. The New York-based talent scout lists 6-8 Isaiah Armwood, 6-7 Tristan Spurlock and 6-7 Terrell Vinson as blue chippers slated to suit up this winter for veteran coach Stu Vetter.

* The verbal commitments are rolling in from the nation's senior class. Here are a few recent ones: Colton Iverson (6-9, 240), Yankton, S.D., to Minnesota; Delwan Graham (6-5, 180), Dunwoody, Ga., to LSU; Justin Hamilton (6-11, 220), Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), to Iowa State; Robert Chubb (6-9), McIntosh (Peachtree City, Ga.), to Auburn; Tom Pritchard (6-8, 240), St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio), to Indiana; and Jason Conrad (6-11, 215), Gilroy, Calif., to Portland State.

* Junior commitments: high-scoring 6-2 Nurideen Lindsey, Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pa.), to LaSalle; and 6-7 Michael Dietz, Natrona County (Casper, Wyo.), to Wyoming.A major sophomore commitment was given by Kendall Marshall to North Carolina. The 6-1 point guard averaged 10.4 points as a freshman for Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.) and projects as a big-time floor general.

Cross Country Notes

* Neuqua Valley (Naperville, Ill.) senior Chris Derrick set a course record with a sizzling 14:47.9 clocking while winning the Culver (Ind.) Academies Invitational. LaPorte, Ind., senior Mike Fout also broke the course record (15:18) with his runner-up time of 15:05.2. One week earlier Fout smashed the New Prairie (New Carlisle, Ind.) Invitational record with an outstanding clocking of 15:12.1. The previous record of 15:29 was set in 1990 by state champion Jason Casiano of Portage, Ind.

* Judge Memorial (Salt Lake City, Utah) senior Luke Puskedra ran a course-record 14:49.16 to win the boys division of the 33rd annual Bob Firman Invitational in Boise, Idaho. Crater (Central Point, Ore.) won the boys team title with 121 points. In the girls division, Boise Borah junior Nicole Nielsen just missed the course record with her winning time of 18:18.40. The course record of 18:17.20 is held by Candace Eddy of Davis (Kaysville, Utah), who placed fifth this time. Mountain Brook (Birmingham, Ala.) won the team title with 64 points.

Soccer Notes

* In an all-Illinois finale, Wheaton-Warrenville South (12-2-1) nipped New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central, 2-1, to win the prestigious Pepsi Showdown for the third time in four years. The champs also had the MVP, 6-6 goalie Randall Babb. The tournament - the largest in the Midwest - included 38 teams who competed over a three-week period. The championship game was played at Toyota Park, home of the professional Chicago Fire.

* The Great Midwest Classic, annually hosted by North Central High in Indianapolis, Ind., has co-champions this year. Barrington, Ill., and Chaminade of St. Louis, Mo., had reached the title game on Sept. 8 when lightning and heavy rain postponed the game. Because the two teams could not find a common date, the game will not be played. The eight-team field included teams from Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.

Volleyball Notes

* Indianapolis Roncalli coach Kathy Nalley-Schembra won her 900th game with a recent victory over city foe Perry Meridian. That puts her No. 2 in Indiana history behind Steve Shondell of Muncie Burris, who is approaching 1,100. The 57-year-old coach won state championships in 1981, 1998 and 2006.

* Palo Alto (Calif.) senior Ali Bisset served an incredible 25 consecutive points for a shutout victory over Reed (Sparks, Utah) in game two at the Reno Sierra Classic.Durant, Iowa, has opponents seeing double with two sets of twins.Hyannis Barnstable tied the Massachusetts state record with its 104th consecutive victory.

Baseball Notes

* Houston Lamar nipped city foe Bellaire, 5-4, to win the 64-team Texas Association of Sports Officials Scholarship Tournament at Minute Maid Field. Pinch hitter Neil Dennison singled in the winning run with one out in the seventh inning to climax the two-week tournament.

* Bill Tutterow has retired as head coach at Martinsville, Ind., with a 608-296 record in 35 seasons. A Martinsville graduate, Tutterow was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and the high school baseball field has been named in his honor.

Potpourri

* Cherry Creek (Englewood, Colo.) softball coach John Gallagher notched his 300th victory recently. In his 21st year at Cherry Creek, the 55-year-old Gallagher also is a member of the Glendale Police Department.

* The USA National under-18 team won three out of four games at the fifth annual North American Hockey League Showcase in Blaine, Minn. In the final game David Warsofsky of Marshfield, Mass., scored an overtime goal to nip the Southern Minnesota Express, 2-1.