Inductees

You could almost say that the volleyball universe wasn’t about to let Paula Wohnhas Wiedemann go anywhere else.

In 1997, one of the state’s most respected coaches asked her to become a full-time assistant at Missouri State University-West Plains.

A former Drury University standout who was pretty familiar with the volleyball landscape in Missouri, Wiedemann was stunned. In a good way. But there was one roadblock, a question of whether she could relocate.

“I knew the community was a knowledgeable volleyball fanbase, and it was a big deal in West Plains,” Wiedemann said.

Fortunately, it all worked out, and her success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Wiedemann with the Class of 2024.

Wiedemann retired in March 2023 after 26 seasons on the MSU-West Plains volleyball coaching staff. She was a part of an overall 835-286 record, including 324-167 as head coach in 14 seasons.

She helped guide the Grizzlies to 19 region championships and 18 NJCAA Tournament appearances. Eight teams finished in the top four, including consecutive third-place finishes her final two seasons.

Wiedemann also helped develop 43 All-Americans, 133 All-Region players and 61 Academic All-Americans. A total of 125 players went to play for four-year colleges.

Now, about that roadblock. She and her husband, Warren, were living in Marshfield, where he was working for Troop D of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Fortunately, the patrol signed off on his move to Willow Springs in the spring of ‘98.

After becoming Drury University’s first NAIA All-American (1987, 1988), she initially coached at East Central College and then for the Queen City Volleyball Club in Springfield.

Wiedemann had become good friends with Trish Knight (MSHOF 2008), who had enjoyed a great run at West Plains High School before taking over at MSU-West Plains in 1993.

“I knew it was only a matter of time the program would be competing on a national level with the momentum she built,” Wiedemann said.

To an outsider, West Plains would seem to be a tough place to recruit to, considering it’s nowhere near a metropolitan area.

However, the coaches and their teams sold recruits on a great volleyball culture, a supportive community, the goal of winning a national championship, and how much West Plains matters to their alumni.

“Sustained success is intentional, and we worked hard to build an intentional culture,” Wiedemann said.

Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas were initial target areas before the map extended to Texas and then internationally.

“We talked about our program like it was a four-year program and the expectation of getting better whether they were playing for us, or moving to the next level,” Wiedemann said. “Players want to be a part of something they believe in, and it was easy to talk about what it means to be a Grizzly.”

Wiedemann’s passion for the sport was no surprise. She was a three-sport standout at Jenks (Okla.) High School before playing for Drury, where she finished as the career leader in kills and digs. She also coached club volleyball beginning in 1988 after encouragement from then-Drury coach Barbara Cowherd (MSHOF 2016).

“Being the gym rat that I was, it was a no-brainer,” Wiedemann said. “I changed my major from accounting to exercise science, kept showing up to the gym and, a year later, was coaching my own team. It changed my life.”

Weidemann was recognized as a standout player for the Panthers by being part of the first class to be inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

She also played professionally for the Kansas City Lightning of the National Volleyball Association (1998) and was a two-time USAV All-American (1997, 1998).

Wiedemann eventually served in leadership roles as the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Two-Year College Board representative, the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association President, a Women’s Assistant Region Director, and on NJCAA committees for DI volleyball, Beach volleyball & Awards.

To top this list, she was inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021.

Looking back, she thanks numerous mentors: Knight, Cowherd, Linda Dollar (MSHOF 2011), Sue Sinclair, Darren Pannier, and Kathy DeBoer.

And none of this happens without her volleyball loving family – husband, Warren, and their daughters Kelly, Lily, and Emma.

“They mean everything to me in this crazy, amazing coaching life!,” Wiedemann said. “This journey has been guided by the constants in my life, my faith, my family, this beautiful game and the players and people who have blessed me more than I can express.”