Jody Butera is in her twelfth year as UIndy volleyball coach, entering the 2008 campaign with a 257-143 mark (.643). Butera’s career win total represents the highest all-time among UIndy volleyball head coaches. The chairperson of the Division II Women’s Volleyball Committee became the winningest UIndy volleyball of all-time last season, with her 228th career “W” coming Aug. 31, 2007 against Emporia State.
The 2007 Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Butera has led her teams to nine straight 20-win seasons, compiling a 232-101 record (.697) over that span. She is among the top 40 of all active Division II coaches in both wins and winning percentage. Butera is also the fourth winningest active DII coach under the age of 40.
Last year, Butera guided the Hounds to a record-breaking season, one that included 33 wins, a 25-match win streak and the program’s first NCAA victory. UIndy compiled an impressive 18-1 GLVC mark in 2007 before downing ninth-ranked Hillsdale in the first round of the Great Lakes Regional.
Butera’s 2006 team went 24-10 and made its fifth consecutive trip to the conference tournament semifinals. Heading into ’08, that streak stands at six, the longest active streak in the GLVC.
The 2005 squad went 24-14, including a 10-2 mark in October on the way to a conference finals appearance. Butera earned her 200th career victory by knocking off top-seeded Rockhurst in the GLVC tournament semifinals as the Greyhounds advanced to the conference finals for the second time in three years.
The 2004 group recorded a 23-13 mark, winning ten straight matches at one point, including rolling off 26 straight games during that stretch. The team finished in the top 20in all of Division II in hitting percentage.
Her 2003 edition earned the school's first NCAA Tournament berth by winning its first Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. In the opening round of the national tournament, the Hounds took eventual Great Lakes Regional champion Grand Valley State to five, finishing the campaign with the then best record in school history (29-11, .725). The Hounds ranked nationally in hitting percentage (28th) and blocks per game (12th) at the DII level.
Butera guided the 2002 squad to 26 wins, tying a personal-best at the time. Indianapolis earned its third straight GLVC Tournament berth, defeating third seed SIU Edwardsville in the quarter-finals. Earlier, the Hounds swept Northern Kentucky for the first time ever after winning the Ashland and Bentley Invitationals. Butera also collected career victory number 100 that season by sweeping St. Francis (Ind.).
In 2001, she led her team to 25 wins, including ripping off 18 wins in one 19-match stretch. The Hounds finished in the top 30 of Division II squads in digs per game (30th), hitting percentage (28th) and an impressive ninth in blocks per game.
Butera led her 2000 Hounds to 26 wins, then the second-most in school history. Her squad won the New Haven (Conn.) and Cedarville Invites. The Hounds won nine straight matches at one point, including four straight GLVC contests.
Butera led her 1999 Hounds to a 22-15 record, her first career 20-win campaign. UIndy won the Cedarville Invitational on its way to a 12-1 start.
A 1993 graduate of Eastern Connecticut State, Butera had been the women's volleyball coach at Newbury Junior College in Brookline, Mass. She also was the boys' volleyball coach at Waltham (Mass.) H.S., starting a new program in February of 1997.
In 1995-96, Butera was an athletic compliance intern at Boston College, working with BC's 32 varsity sports. Prior to her stint at BC, Butera was an assistant volleyball coach at Springfield College (Mass.) from 1994-96. In 1993, Butera was the assistant volleyball coach at her alma mater.
Butera was a standout volleyball player at Eastern Connecticut from 1991-92. She earned team MVP honors as a senior in 1992, serving as team captain. She played her first two collegiate seasons at Miami-Dade CC (Fla.), with MDCC's 1989 team winning the juco national championship.
Butera earned her bachelor's in business administration from Eastern Connecticut in 1993 and her master's in physical education with a concentration in athletic administration in 1997 at Springfield College.
