COLBY, Kan. – Opening weekend of the 2024 NJCAA volleyball season came with a coaching milestone for Cowley Community College head coach Steven Gream as a 3-0 Tiger win over Rose State College in the 2024 season opener marked the 500th career head coaching win for the ninth-year head coach.
Entering the year fresh off the 2023 NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Title, Gream has led the Tigers to 43 consecutive wins after capping off the evening with a three-set win over Pratt Community College and now holds a career coaching record of 501-184. Of his 501 coaching victories, 269 have come at the helm of the Tigers, the third-most in program history as Gream is in his 20th season as a head coach at the collegiate volleyball ranks. Over the past three seasons, Cowley has amassed a 122-6 overall record, finished NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Runner-Up in 2021, sixth in NJCAA Division 2 volleyball in 2022, and a perfect 41-0 in 2023 to complete Cowley’s first undefeated season and the second in NJCAA volleyball history. As part of the undefeated season last year, Cowley dropped a total of five sets on the season while winning 12 of the 14 sets they played in during the NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Tournament.
A nine-time Coach of the Year honoree, Gream was named the NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball Coach of the Year, Volleyballmag.com NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball Coach of the Year, NJCAA Division 2 Plains District A District Coach of the Year, Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) Division 2 Volleyball Coach of the Year, American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Mid-West Coach of the Year, and NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Tournament Coach of the Tournament in 2023.
Gream came to Cowley College, having served six seasons as head coach at Southern Arkansas University (NCAA DII). After taking over the program in 2010, Gream guided the program to a record of 111-87 (more wins than the previous nine years combined). In just his first season at SAU (2010), Gream orchestrated one of the greatest turnaround seasons in NCAA Division II history, as his team won 19 more matches than the previous year and ended with a 20-12 record. It was the school’s first 20-win season since 2003.
In each of his first four seasons at the helm, Gream posted a winning season, marking the first time that the SAU volleyball program has had four consecutive winning seasons since the mid-‘90s. Additionally, Gream led the program to their first-ever post-season play as he led the Lady Muleriders to five consecutive Great American Conference (GAC) Volleyball Championship Tournament appearances. In their first two trips to the GAC Tournament (2011 and 2012), Gream and his Lady Muleriders would win their opening game to advance to the semi-finals. Those two conference tournament wins, under Gream’s tutelage, are the first for SAU since they joined NCAA Division II in 1995. In 2015, Gream led the team to their first conference championship match in program history since joining the NCAA DII level.
Before coming to SAU, Gream spent seven total years coaching at his alma mater, Union University (two years as an assistant and five years as head coach). During his time as head coach, Union posted a record of 121-51 (.700 winning percentage), had four seasons of over 25 wins, won one conference championship, made two NAIA Region XI Tournaments (NAIA Regional tournaments were discontinued in 2007), made one NAIA National Tournament appearance, and received numerous national rankings.
As an assistant coach at Union University, Gream helped start the program in 1998. In his two seasons as an assistant coach, the program had a 78-18 record and won a conference regular-season championship, a conference tournament championship, two regional tournament berths, two NCCAA national tournaments, and two NCCAA regional championships.
Gream is a member of the AVCA, where he has served on numerous national and regional committees. In December 2009, Gream was honored by the AVCA as part of their Victory Club. This honor was given in recognition of his success as a college head coach in his first five seasons. He was again honored by the AVCA in December 2018 and December 2021 in recognition of his 300th and 400th career wins in his college coaching career. Gream currently is serving as the president of the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association.