Longevity, consistency and diligence these are characteristics that the people who know Pioneer head volleyball coach Deb Schulman best, use to describe her.
Schulman is entering her 23rd year as the head volleyball coach at UW-Platteville, and will be inducted into the UW-P Hall of Fame on Dec. 4.
Loren Finn is entering his eighth season as Schulman’s assistant coach and believes that the consistency of Schulman has allowed the program to grow.
“For the school it’s great to have that longevity for continuity and tradition for the players,” said Finn.
Until Finn joined the staff eight seasons ago there wasn’t a lead assistant for Schulman to help recruit players or to be able to bounce ideas off of on a daily basis. Finn enjoys the fact that Schulman is willing to ask not only his opinion, but of team managers and other colleagues so that the volleyball program can continue to grow.
“I think the thing that makes her a good coach is that she’s open-minded,” said Finn.
There may not be a better example of Schulman’s open mindset than when she first came to Platteville and held many different positions at the same time, including head volleyball coach, head women’s track coach and administrative assistant.
“You need to be a very good time manager,” said Schulman in regards to her full platter when she first arrived in Platteville.
While her coaching duties are now limited to the volleyball team, Schulman also holds the position of assistant athletic director, which allows her to be able to be involved with another activity that she really enjoys.

“On the administrative side I get to work with the budgets,” said Schulman, who believes that if she had to pick another career it would be in business and accounting.

UW-P Athletic Director Mark Molesworth believes that the reason many people don’t know about the consistency and efficiency that Schulman uses in her many tasks is because of the way she goes about her work.

“She’s not a big dynamic personality, so she does it under the radar,” said Molesworth.

Schulman admits that when she first came to UW-P she didn’t have long term plans to stay for her entire career.

“When I first came to Platteville, I saw it as a stepping stone,” said Schulman, who previously worked at the University of Indiana as an assistant volleyball coach and UW-Milwaukee as the assistant athletic director, both of which are Div. I institutions.

Thankfully for the athletic department and UW-P in general, the hall of fame coach chose to make Platteville home and has touched many students’ lives in the process.