The Nittany Lions are national champions.

With a 3-1 win over Louisville on Sunday, Penn State women’s volleyball won its eighth national title in program history and its first since 2014, and the victory marked the first-ever national championship for a female head coach.

That head coach: Katie Schumacher-Cawley.

After being crowned a national champion as a player for Penn State in 1999, Schumacher-Cawley’s coaching career brought her back to Happy Valley, where she’s been at the helm for three years and capped off a 35-2 season with a title.

While the team’s 35 wins were the most of any Penn State team since 2014, Schumacher-Cawley was forced to navigate off-court challenges on her way to that success.

In October, the 44-year-old announced she had been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, but she wasn’t going to let it take her off the sidelines. Remaining the team’s leader, Schumacher-Cawley said being with the blue and white was when she felt “most normal.”

“I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people, from this team to the staff I have,” Schumacher-Cawley said Sunday. “I’m just really lucky to have great people around me that go above and beyond.”

Schumacher-Cawley said the people within the program made it a season filled with accomplishments, having a close bond both on and off the court.

A coach’s job is to guide their players to become the best athlete they can be, but for Penn State women’s volleyball, becoming the best person possible was just as important.

A two-time AVCA All-American, Schumacher-Cawley has the experience and knowledge to teach her team about volleyball. However, according to the players, what they’ll remember most from her is the off-court lessons she shared.

“She teaches so much every single day, but I think the biggest thing I’m taking away from this season is you can do anything you set your mind to, and if you believe it, it’ll happen,” senior captain Jess Mruzik said. “I think with her doing everything she’s doing, that helped us as a group also believe that we are capable of this. She’s just been an inspiration to us, and she’s helped us believe that we can accomplish what we just accomplished.”

Taylor Trammell, who also capped off a five-year career with a title, three of which were spent at Penn State, said Schumacher-Cawley has helped her make improvements both on and off the court.

A Kentucky native who had the opportunity to visit her family while competing in Louisville for the tournament’s final two rounds, Trammell had 260 kills this season, compared to 190 last season, and credited her coach for helping her better herself.

“Where I was last year to now, Katie’s pushed me to be a better person, a better player, and just a well-rounded human being. I think that’s a characteristic I’ll take into life and how to treat others,” Trammell said. “It’s just something that I’m so grateful for [in] my time spent here that she taught me.”

Three of Penn State’s seniors, Mruzik, Trammell, and Camryn Hannah, transferred to Penn State after Schumacher-Cawley took over as the program’s head coach, and winning the national championship was a moment they dreamed of when they did so.

Mruzik joined Penn State prior to last season after spending three years at Michigan and, as a fifth-year senior, became a first-team All-American.

After having 29 kills in the final match of her career, Mruzik praised Schumacher-Cawley’s will to win, along with the rich history of Penn State women’s volleyball, as major factors in players choosing to play for the Nittany Lions.

“The standard at Penn State is winning national championships, and that’s how it’s always been. This is a dream come true, but when you come to Penn State, you’re a Penn Stater for life and the ultimate goal is winning a national championship,” Mruzik said.