Otterbein University Athletics

Head Coach Monica Wright will enter her 18th season at the helm in 2025. She arrived to Westerville in 2007 and has since become one of the most successful volleyball coaches in Ohio Athletic Conference history. She reached the 300-win milestone in October of 2021 and her career record now stands at 375-186.

In addition, Wright was named Senior Woman's Administrator for the department by Director of Athletics, Greg Lott, shortly after his hiring in the summer of 2023.

Wright has ten OAC championships on her resume, winning six tournament crowns (2012, 2017, 2020-21, 2022, 2023, 2024) and four regular-season titles (2017, 2018, 2022, 2023) in the process. She has taken the program to the NCAA Tournament a total of ten times, including a run to the Sweet 16 in the 2021 bracket before falling to eventual national runner-up Calvin.

Her 2023 group became the first in program history to sweep through the OAC regular-season undefeated at a perfect 9-0.

Her Otterbein program has captured five of the last eight OAC Player of the Year awards, coming by way of Morgan Lowenkamp (2017), Hadley Sterett (2018), Tate Eppard (2019), Carlie Craycraft (2021) and Morgan Hartman (2023). They are the only Cardinals to ever receive the honor, with Lowenkamp signing a contract to play in England following graduation.

That 2021 group delivered a pair of school-record winning streaks in the form of 19-straight matches and 48 consecutive sets, the latter marking the seventh-longest streak in NCAA Division III history. The (more recent) 2022 team became the first squad to sweep OAC regular-season and tournament titles outright... spending the entire year in the AVCA national poll.

Otterbein's 2017 squad went 30-4 overall, and was eventually selected as one of eight regional hosts for the NCAA Championships.

Wright claimed her first OAC title in 2012, going 26-8 and defeating Mount Union in the league's tournament championship match. The program made four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances spanning 2010-13, its first four in school history, with Wright selected as the 2010 OAC Coach of the Year. She was also an American Volleyball Coaches Association "30 Under 30" award recipient.

Wright and the Cards delivered a notable five-set victory over eventual national champion Wittenberg back in 2011, the same year the program reached its highest national ranking ever… soaring to No. 8 in the AVCA poll. She has guided 11 different All-Americans and another five Academic All-Americans.

Wright came to Westerville in 2007 from Mount Union, where she served as assistant volleyball coach while also assisting in men’s and women’s track and field. While at Mount Union, Wright took part in a volleyball program that improved from 15-16 to 22-10.

A 2005 graduate of Wittenberg, she was a 2x All-American outside hitter in helping lead the Tigers into the NCAA Division III Tournament four times, including two advancements into the Elite Eight. Wright was inducted into Wittenberg's Hall of Honor in 2020.

Wright has also coached several club volleyball teams, including stints as head coach for a Mid Ohio club team for 15-year-olds (2006), and a Midwest Elite open team for 16-year-olds (2005). She also hosts Otterbein volleyball overnight and day camps for different ages and skill levels, ranging from young newcomers to college bound players.

Wright holds a bachelor's degree in business management and a master's degree (from Otterbein) in business administration. She and her husband, Bobby, a 2007 Otterbein graduate and former standout baseball player, reside in Newark with their sons Warren, Wesley and Dean.


Coach Wright's Record: