Kim McLain (right) was hired as the new Head Coach of the Corban Volleyball team on Tuesday. Her long-time assistant and husband, Dick McLain (left), will be her assistant at Corban.
SALEM, Ore. - Corban University Director of Athletics, Greg Eide, announced on Tuesday morning that Corban has hired Kim McLain to be its new Head Volleyball Coach. McLain comes to Corban after a heralded coaching career at Santiam Christian High School where she won five of the past six state championships and accumulated a 397-74 overall record at the helm of the Eagles.
“I am pleased to announce Kim McLain as our next Head Volleyball Coach,” stated Eide. “As we look to build on the excellent foundation that Tracy Smith has created over her outstanding career at Corban, we turned over many stones nationwide as we sought the right person to lead our program into the upper echelon of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Kim’s success and resume precede her as she is one of the top volleyball coaches in the Pacific Northwest at any level, well respected by high school and college coaches alike, and well-connected and suited to be an outstanding recruiter.”
With an overall career winning percentage of .843 and a conference mark of 179-12 (.937), McLain led Santiam Christian to 13 Conference Championships in the last 13 years, six State Championships, 12 top-five finishes, and 14 appearances in the State Tournament during her 15 year career. With her team’s successes, she was tabbed the League Coach of the Year 11 times, State Coach of the Year 6 times, and the Regional Coach of the Year on two occasions.
“It is an honor to be invited to serve Corban University as its Head Volleyball Coach,” stated McLain. “What excites me the most are the relationships to be built, the incredible opportunity to coach at the next level, and using God's Word to direct the athletes and bring a culture of excellence and winning! One of my favorite quotes by Aristotle is, ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.’”
Just this past weekend, McLain capped a 28-2 season by leading Santiam Christian to its third-straight OSAA State Championship and fifth in the last six years, seeing her team come from behind to win a five-set thriller in the title match over Creswell (25-20, 18-25, 24-26, 25-23,18-16).
“In addition to Kim displaying an unprecedented ability to develop championship caliber teams and top-tier athletes, I am equally excited about her being a Christian mentor to the young ladies in our program,” commented Eide. “I have extreme confidence that Kim will do a great job using the sport of volleyball to help them grow in their faith and to learn valuable life lessons. I am very excited about the future of Warrior Volleyball!”
In addition to her head coaching duties at Santiam Christian, McLain worked as an assistant coach with the Eagles for 10 years prior to taking over as the head coach. Moreover, she runs BOSS Volleyball Club, and coached the 18-1’s team to a second-place finish in the region during the first year of existence while winning the Regional Championship in the second year of the club’s existence.
On top of her coaching duties, McLain has worked with the Oregon Coaches Association for the past 10 years as the 3A President, Representative, and Secretary. Moreover, she worked with the OSAA on the ranking committee.
McLain will begin head coaching duties with the Warrior Volleyball program immediately.