JW Kieckhefer will begin his eighth year with the Firebirds after being named Head Coach in July of 2019. He has amassed a record of 143-28 for a .836 match winning percentage.
Kieckhefer has coached five NCAA Tournament squads, with historic seasons in 2021 and 2022, winning back-to-back National Championships. It marked the first-ever team NCAA National Championships for Carthage since the College began competing in athletics in 1895.
The 2022 National Championship hosted on campus in Tarble Arena holds the NCAA Division 3 record for the largest attended NCAA tournament matches in history. The combined attendance for the NCAA Final Four and NCAA Finals matches was 4,200.
In 2026, Carthage again made a run to the NCAA Finals losing to host Springfield College, finishing as National Runner-Up. Kieckhefer has been to the National Championship match in 3 of 6 completed seasons at the helm of the program (2020 did not complete the season due to the COVID pandemic).
Kieckhefer’s tenure at Carthage has seen players amass 2 AVCA National Newcomer of the Year Awards, 4 AVCA Region Player of the Year Awards, 20 AVCA All-American Selections (13 as First Team All Americans), 26 AVCA All-Region Selections, and 32 CCIW All-Conference Selections.
Before Carthage, Kieckhefer was an assistant coach at NCAA Division 1 Purdue Fort Wayne for 5 seasons. In his last season at PFW in 2019, he helped the Mastodons to a 17-12 record. They earned the No. 3 seed in the MIVA Tournament thanks to their best finish in the MIVA regular season play since 2007.
As a player for Purdue Fort Wayne, Kieckhefer saw action in 105 matches from 2011-14. He was sixth in NCAA D1 digs per set during his 2012 campaign with 2.57. That 2012 season landed him 4th in program history for digs in a season and 5th in digs per set in a season. Prior to Fort Wayne, Kieckhefer played at Hartford Union High School and club volleyball with Milwaukee Volleyball Club.
