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A two-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, Karen Glover completed her 14th season in charge of the Western Carolina volleyball program in 2024. Over the first 14 years of her tenure in Cullowhee, Glover has coached one Southern Conference Player of the Year and had two student-athletes earn Libero of the Year honors, guided nine Catamounts to all-conference honors, as well as had 10 selected to the league’s all-freshman team.
In 2024, the Catamounts were led by a pair of history setting seniors in Bailey Hartsough and Sarah Janourova who both reached numerous milestones for WCU.
Hartsough became the 16th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career kills in a five-set win over the Citadel. Hartsough also became the 13th player in school history to go 1,000+ kills and digs after eclipsing the 1,000+ dig plateau against Chattanooga. She closed out her senior season becoming the 16th player in school history to reach 100 service aces. Janourova became the 11th player in program history to reach 2,000 career assists in a road contest with Chattanooga.
Janelle Blue tallied a career-high 14 blocks against American in a five-set win which netted her SoCon Defensive Player of the Week, while Ali Morris had a career day with 25 kills and 26 digs in a SoCon opening win over The Citadel landing her SoCon Offensive Player of the Week.
In 2023, the Catamounts were led by junior Bailey Hartsough and Ali Morris on the offensive end as both eclipsed 300 kills on the season. Junior Sarah Janourova became the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000-assist plateau. On the defensive end, Eden Punch and Logan Carr were one of the best duos in blocking in the league as the pair was one of only three sets of teammates to sit in the top 10 in the league in blocks. Carr was named to the league’s all-freshman team following the 2023 campaign. In late October, WCU handed previously unbeaten The Citadel its first loss of the 2023 season in a five-set triumph in Cullowhee.
A record-setting 2022 season saw Glover lead the Catamounts to the first postseason appearance in program history as WCU reached the quarterfinal round of the NIVC Tournament. WCU posted a 20-13 record, reaching the 20-win milestone for the first time since 2002 and included road wins over Power 5 foes Wake Forest and NC State. Glover worked with fifth-year senior Merry Gebel, who earned Southern Conference Player of the Year honors and also claimed AVCA All-American and All-Region honors. The team also had a strong year academically, posting a 3.644 team GPA with 12 players earning a spot on the Southern Conference Academic All-Conference squad.
Glover guided a pair of players to Southern Conference postseason honors in 2021 as senior Merry Gebel earned second-team All-Conference accolades with Bailey Hartsough taking a spot on the All-Freshman Team. The Catamounts also performed in the classroom as WCU placed 10 student-athletes on the fall Southern Conference Academic All-Conference team with sophomores Julia Gardon and Eden Punch both registering a 4.0 cumulative GPA.
While the 2020 season was postponed until the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it didn’t faze Glover as she led the Catamounts to an 11-8 overall record and an 11-5 league mark, finishing in third place and qualifying for the SoCon Tournament in a pandemic-reduced field. WCU closed the regular season with six straight victories.
Western Carolina featured the SoCon’s Libero of the Year in consecutive seasons in 2019 and 2020. Meagan Sanchez collected honors in 2019 with Destinee Dorsey collecting the top defensive honor as a true freshman in 2020. Also in the 2020 season, Merry Gebel claimed a spot on the league’s first-team all-conference squad, as well as the SoCon All-Tournament team, while Dorsey was tabbed to the second team and the All-Freshman Team. Dorsey was joined on the 2020 SoCon All-Freshman squad by Julia Gardon.
The 2019 Catamounts finished 17-13 overall and 11-5 league mark to finish in third place in the SoCon as Glover claimed her second SoCon Coach of the Year honor. WCU had the league’s Libero of the Year in Sanchez, who finished her career third all-time on the program’s career digs list. Off the court, Abigail Veit was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District III First Team for the second straight season and the team claimed its sixth straight AVCA Team Academic Award.
The 2018 Catamount squad saw Abigail Veit earn a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team with Gebel earning All-Freshman honors. In 2017, Katie O’Conner claimed Second Team All-Conference accolades during her senior season. That same season, Jo-Leigh VerVelde also concluded her career and currently ranks in the top 10 in program history in assists, assists per set, assist percentage, service aces, service attempts, serving percentage, digs, and block assists.
The 2016 Catamounts had two players on the All-Freshman Team in Veit and Aleah Keaton.
After achieving the first recorded triple-double in program history in 2014, VerVelde went on to lead the NCAA in triple-doubles in 2015, under Glover's guidance, with 10. Glover also saw her senior Cristina Nazario become just the seventh Catamount in program history to achieve 3,000 career assists.
Glover continued the momentum in 2014 as she guided the Catamounts to their first Southern Conference Tournament win since 2005 and an overall record of 17-15. She saw two of her athletes become the ninth and tenth Catamounts in program history to achieve 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs while VerVelde achieved the first triple-double in program history as a freshman. She also guided a pair of seniors (Addy George and Caitlin Piechota) to become the first Catamount teammates to earn all-conference honors in the same season since 2001.
In 2013, Glover guided the Catamounts to an 18-13 overall record - the program's first winning ledger and the most victories for the Purple & Gold in a single season dating back to 2002 (22-12).
Glover took the helm of the Catamount volleyball program in 2011, leading the Catamounts to 13 wins in her first season -- the most overall victories since the Catamounts won 16 in 2003. WCU also amassed eight conference wins and made the SoCon Tournament for the first time since 2006. With the squad’s impressive turnaround, Glover was selected as the 2011 Southern Conference Coach of the Year. Western Carolina also placed a pair on the SoCon All-Freshmen Team in Caitlin Piechota and Jordan Timmermann.
Before coming to Cullowhee, Glover was an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and worked as head coach at Arizona Western College. While at Arizona Western, she directed the team to a National Junior College Athletic Association Region I Tournament appearance, its ninth-consecutive regional appearance. Glover also coached four all-conference performers and an NJCAA All-American. Before her time at AWC, she spent two years as the head coach at Phoenix College. In her two seasons at PC, her teams won the ACCAC conference in 2007 placed fourth in the 2007 NJCAA National Tournament. Glover began her coaching career at Cactus Shadows HS where she won two Arizona State Championships and five regional titles in her seven years as the varsity volleyball head coach (1999-2006).
Glover earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and communications from Hiram College in 1993. She received her master's degree in coach and athletic administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2013.
She married Charlie Schmidt in the summer of 2021. The couple resides in Sylva.
