The University of West Georgia volleyball program swung into a new era in fall 2021 with the hiring of Kara Hellmann as the 10th head coach in program history. Hellmann will now enter her fifth season at the helm of the program in the 2025 campaign.
In her first season, Hellman led the Wolves to a 15-15 record, entering the GSC Tournament as the seventh seed. Along with the GSC Tournament berth, Hellmann coached Sydney Blackmon and Emilee Harris to All-GSC selections.
In her second season in 2022, Hellman brought in a stellar recruiting class that featured Division I transfer Zoë LaBreche and freshmen Sarah Pipping, Isabela Segoviano, Isabella Steffel, Sanai Young, Marley Staats, and Ellie Fox who all made immediate impacts on the court. On top of her elite recruiting class, Sydney Blackmon recorded 525 digs and was selected to the All-GSC team, making it the second consecutive year with 500+ digs and an All-GSC selection under Hellmann.
In year three, Hellmann and her staff led the Wolves back to the GSC Tournament and had a plethora of individual successes. At the season's end, Zoë LaBreche and Sanai Young were named All-GSC with LaBreche being named to the first team and Young selected to the second team. The duo also put themselves in the UWG record book as Young recorded 118 total blocks in the 2023 season which sits as the second most in a single season in school history. As for LaBreche, she finished her 2023 campaign with 53 service aces which ranks as the second most in a single season in West Georgia history. Alongside LaBreche and Young, Hellmann moved Kelli Kaiser to Libero and in her first season at the position, she recorded a conference-high 502 digs. Hellmann also brought in true freshman, Desha Van Veldhuizen who went on to have one of the best freshman campaigns in UWG history. Van Veldhuizen recorded 780 assists in her first season, leading to seven Freshman of the Week selections.Â
In the Wolves first-ever DI campaign, UWG posted a 9-19 overall record, going 2-14 in the ASUN. Victoria Schmer would earn Third Team All-ASUN, marking the first time a UWG athlete took home All-ASUN honors. Schmer finished second in the conference in digs with 506 which ranks seventh most in a single season in UWG history and 19th in the country. She also led the team and finished second in the conference in digs per set with 5.06.Â
The program has also been awarded American Volleyball Coaches Association Academic Team Award in all five years under Hellmann's direction. In 2025, the team earned AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll, representing the top 20% of GPAs nationally by division.
Before beginning her tenure at UWG, Hellmann amassed a record of 40-25 in 2018-19 at Urbana University, including a 12-4 mark and second-place finish in the Mountain East Conference in 2019. The Blue Knights did not play in fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to her stint at Urbana, Hellmann spent 10 years coaching at the Division I level, serving as an assistant at Niagara for five years before becoming the associate head coach at Wright State for five years.
During her time at Wright State, Hellmann's responsibilities included recruiting, training and mentoring student-athletes for the Raider volleyball program, highlighted by players earning freshman of the year, setter of the year, libero of the year and player of the year recognition from the Horizon League over the course of five years. She also helped maintain tremendous standards in the classroom, resulting in multiple academic awards from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
While at Niagara, Hellmann's duties included training the setters and middle blockers in helping guide the Purple Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances and three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament championships.
Hellmann spent one season as an assistant at her alma mater, where the Tigers punched their ticket to the NAIA Tournament following a Region IX title and Mid-South Conference Tournament title.
As a player, the 2006 Georgetown graduate established the NAIA national career record for assists with 7,527, along with being a two-time NAIA Second-Team All-American. Hellmann also captured 2005 NAIA Region XI Player of the Year accolades from the AVCA. Hellmann, a 2015 Georgetown Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, was the MSC Player of the Year in each of her final three seasons and was voted the 2005 Georgetown Female Athlete of the Year.
The Tigers reached the NAIA national tournament three times during Hellmann's playing career, won the 2005 Region XI championship, had three runner-up finishes in Region XI and four MSC regular-season and tournament titles.
