Erin Virtue

Erin Virtue (born April 13, 1983) is an American volleyball head coach at Michigan and assistant coach for the United States women's national volleyball team.

Erin Virtue
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamMichigan
ConferenceBig Ten
Record0–0 (–)
Biographical details
Born (1983-04-13) April 13, 1983[1]
St. Charles, Illinois
Alma materUniversity of Illinois
Playing career
2001–2005Illinois
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2006Loyola (asst.)
2007–2010Cincinnati (asst.)
2011–2015Michigan (asst.)
2016–2018Northwestern (assoc.)
2017–presentU.S. women's (asst.)
2023–presentMichigan
Head coaching record
Overall0–0 (–)

Early life

Virtue attended St. Francis High School where she helped lead the team to back-to-back Suburban Catholic Conference Championships. She was named to the 2000 all-state team by the Chicago Tribune and all-area teams by the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Herald and the Naperville Sun.[2]

College career

Virtue played college volleyball at Illinois. As a true freshman in 2001, she played in 14 matches on the season, as both a setter and as a defensive specialist, and recorded 88 assists. As a sophomore in 2002, she played in 26 matches and recorded 81 assists on the season. She recorded a then career-high 34 assists in her first career start at setter in a game against Penn State.[2]

During her junior year in 2003 she transitioned to a full-time setter. She ranked second in the Big Ten in assists per game (13.56), while ranking seventh in the league in service aces (0.34). During the season she recorded 1,627 assists, the fifth most in a single season in Illinois program history. Following the season she was named to the first-team All-Big Ten and named AVCA Honorable Mention All-American.[2] During her senior year she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee in a game against Ball State on September 17, 2004, and missed the remainder of the season.[3] She was not granted a fifth year of eligibility.[4]

Coaching career

Virtue began her coaching career at Loyola in 2006, where she worked with the setters and handled recruiting.[5] On August 7, 2007, she was named an assistant coach for Cincinnati. During four seasons with the Bearcats she helped lead the team to a 101–36 record.[6]

On April 17, 2011, she was named an assistant coach for Michigan.[7] She served as Michigan's recruiting and offensive coordinator. During her five seasons at Michigan the team advanced to four NCAA Tournament, including two Sweet 16s and their first ever Final Four appearance in 2012. The 2012 Wolverines recorded seven victories over top-25 opponents en route to a modern-day school-record 27 wins.[8]

In 2016, she was named associate head coach for Northwestern.[9][10] On January 17, 2023, she was named the head coach for Michigan.[11][12]

U.S. National Team

She served as head coach of the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team that won silver at the 2016 NORCECA Women's U18 Continental Championship and the coach at the 2017 FIVB Women's U18 World Championship.[13] She has also served as a coach at the Select (U16), Youth (U18) and Junior (U20) age groups.[14][5]

On March 3, 2017, Virtue was named an assistant coach for the United States women's national volleyball team.[15][16] In 2019 she was named director of the USA National Team Development Program, where she oversees all U15-U23 development programs for both boys and girls.[8]

She served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2020 Summer Olympics, helping lead the team to their first Olympic gold medal.[17][18]

Personal life

Virtue was born to Patrick and Carol Virtue. She has two brothers and two sisters.[2] Her older sister, Katie, played college volleyball at Ohio State and was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 1999.[19]

References
  1. Huth, Jeff (August 29, 2004). "Ten Illini you need to know". The News-Gazette. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  2. "Erin Virtue Bio". fightingillini.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  3. "For Virtue All Things are Relative". BigTen.org. September 22, 2004. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  4. Deal, Lucas (September 30, 2006). "Volleyball team loses starter to knee injury". The Daily Illini. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  5. "Women's National Team Assistant Coach - Erin Virtue". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  6. "Meet The Coaching Staff: Erin Virtue". gobearcats.com. August 7, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  7. "Virtue Named Assistant Coach for Wolverine Program". April 17, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  8. "Erin Virtue Bio". MGoBlue.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  9. "New Era of Northwestern Volleyball Begins Friday". nusports.com. August 25, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  10. "Erin Virtue Bio". nusports.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  11. Svoboda, Kurt; Underwood, Bridgette (January 17, 2023). "Erin Virtue Announced as Michigan Volleyball Coach". MGoBlue.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  12. Kahn, Andrew (January 18, 2023). "Michigan hires USA volleyball assistant as new head coach". MLive.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  13. "Associate Head Coach Erin Virtue Joins U.S. Women's National Team Staff". nusports.com. March 3, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  14. "Erin Virtue - USA Junior National Team Blog". MGoBlue.com. August 1, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  15. Kauffman, Bill (March 3, 2017). "Erin Virtue Joins U.S. Women's National Team Staff". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  16. Odden, Kjetil (May 11, 2017). "Going for Gold: Virtue Set for Olympic Challenge". nusports.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  17. Le Cren, Matt (January 11, 2021). "Ex-St. Francis volleyball star Erin Virtue hopes to realize Olympic gold dreams as assistant coach of U.S. national team". shawlocal.com. Shaw Local News. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  18. "Bartsch-Hackley, Poulter & Virtue Help Lead Team USA to First-Ever Olympic Gold Medal". fightingillini.com. August 8, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  19. "Katie Virtue Bio". ecupirates.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
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