LEWISTON, ID – Katie (Hinrichs) Palmer was named the 14th head coach in Lewis-Clark State College Volleyball history today. The Warrior alum brings 12 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience, which includes coaching at the international level with USA Volleyball.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Katie Palmer is the best and most qualified person to coach and lead our volleyball team,” Athletic Director Brooke Henze said. “Katie’s passion and love for LC State Volleyball is evident and unmatched. This is the best position for Katie. Although she was a great fit on our administrative team, her heart never left the court and now her time can be spent impacting the lives of our student-athletes.”
Palmer was a standout libero and helped the Warriors to a 112-24 overall record during her career. LC State won four regular-season and postseason Frontier Conference titles and advanced to the NAIA national tournament all four years. Palmer etched her name in the LC State record books in multiple categories including the single-game dig leader (41), single-season dig leader (561), and finished her career second in program history in career digs (1,585).
“Katie Palmer is experienced, accomplished, organized, competent and competitive,” President Cynthia Pemberton said. “She is exactly the right person to lead Warrior Volleyball into and up to the next level of championship performance. I could not be more pleased that she has accepted this position and look forward to the success she will lead.”
“I am extremely excited and humbled to be coaching at my alma mater and continue the unbelievable tradition of excellence created by all the former players and coaches throughout the athletic department,” Palmer said. “I want to thank President Pemberton, Director of Athletics Brooke Henze, and the entire search committee for trusting me to lead the Warriors. I am looking forward to getting to know the team, rallying the alumni, and engaging with the passionate fans and community. I can’t wait to get started.”
Most recently in her coaching career, Palmer served as an assistant coach at Gonzaga for three seasons. She was hired by the Zags in 2019 and her primary responsibilities included recruiting coordination, first contact development, and team defense. During her time in Spokane, she trained and developed seven Bulldogs to WCC all-conference honors. The incoming 2023 class was named by
PrepVolleyball.com as on the cusp of a top-30 recruiting class in the nation and included the No. 71 recruit in the country.
In her two seasons at Montana State, Palmer helped the Bobcats to their first back-to-back double-figure win seasons since 2004-05 and their first bid to the Big Sky Conference tournament since 2012. Palmer oversaw the development of freshman middle blocker Kelsie White, who broke the program record for single-match blocks (14). The team made program history with three Bobcats tabbed as All-Big Sky Conference players in a single season. As associate head coach in her final season, Palmer oversaw all recruiting efforts which led to the program’s first Under Armour All-American and the future Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
Prior to her time at Montana State, Palmer, a native of Pullman, Wash., was part of the Washington State volleyball staff with former Warrior coaches, Jen and Burdette Greeny. At WSU, she was responsible for all team travel, video and statistical analysis, professional development, community service and summer camps. In her final season, the team returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years making it to the second round.
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