Gream to be inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Hall of Fame

Having positively impacted and continue to advance NJCAA and Cowley volleyball, current Cowley head coach Steven Gream was recently selected for induction into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Joining Gream in the 2025 Class are Dekyra Dennis (Coffeyville), Preecy Seever (Johnson County), Stephanie Champine (Owens), Thais Baziquetto-Allen (Florida Southwestern / Seward), and his former Cowley player Iva Halacheva.

"Congratulations to Head Coach Steven Gream on his well-deserved induction into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association (VCA) Hall of Fame," Cowley Athletic Director Jeff Fluty said. "This is an exceptional and profound honor that validates his successful impact on the sport of volleyball and the lives of all of the student-athletes over his coaching career."

Upon the announcement, Gream was honored to be included among the great coaches and players of the 2025 NJCAA VCA Hall of Fame class.

"I am humbled and incredibly honored to be recognized and inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame," Gream said. "This is truly an honor, and it reflects the incredible players, colleagues and mentors I've had throughout my career. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity of coaching in the NJCAA and at Cowley, which has included some of the best times of my career. The incredible support from 'Cowley nation' and the administration has been unbelievable and has allowed our program to do what we have done."

Gream has made a great impact in his ten seasons at Cowley. The Portageville, Missouri native helped guide the Lady Tigers to two of its four NJCAA Division II Volleyball national championships (2023, 2024), back-to-back undefeated national championships (the first in NJCAA history), a National Runner-up finish, a fifth place and sixth place finish, a NJCAA record breaking 104 consecutive match win streak, and has posted an impressive Cowley career record of 334-50 (.870). His 334 wins are second in Cowley history in career wins by a coach behind former head coach Deb Nittler with 389.

The Union University (TN) alum began his collegiate career as an assistant coach at Union University (NAIA) where he helped start the program and served for two seasons. He left the college game to coach high school and middle school volleyball at his alma mater North Pemiscot. After five years, he returned to Union University to serve as head coach where he recorded a 121-51 record and led them to a national tournament appearance. Five years later, in 2010, he was hired at NJCAA DII Southern Arkansas University (AR), tasked to rebuild the program. In his first season at Southern Arkansas, he recorded the greatest turnaround season in NCAA history with a 19-win turnaround with a 20-12 record (the previous season the program was 1-32). He coached there for six seasons recording an overall record of 111-87 and a conference championship runner-up finish (first in school history since joining NCAA DII ranks).

In 2016, Gream was hired at Cowley with plans to bring a fast and aggressive style of play to the court. In his first season at the helm, the Lady Tigers recorded a 25-9 record but fell short in bid to the national tournament. The next season, the Lady Tigers recorded a 40-7 record and a fifth-place finish in the national tournament. Four seasons later, the Lady Tigers recorded a 41-1 record and were the runners up in the national championship match, losing in four sets to Parkland. The next season in 2022, the Lady Tigers recorded a 40-5 record and finished sixth in the national tournament. In 2023, ten years after winning their last national championship, the Lady Tigers captured their third overall national championship and first under Gream, in defeating Scottsdale 3-2 and finished the campaign at 41-0. The undefeated national championship was the first in Cowley history and second in NJCAA volleyball history. Gream's second title and Cowley's fourth overall title came in 2024 where Cowley went 40-0 and defeated rival Johnson County 3-1. The undefeated national championship marked back-to-back undefeated national championships (the first in NJCAA history), the second undefeated national championship in Cowley history and the third undefeated national championship in NJCAA history.

"It is impossible to put into words how much my time at Cowley has meant to me," Gream said. "I am very grateful to Shane Larson and the Cowley selection committee who trusted me to lead such an amazing and established program as the Cowley volleyball program. Cowley is truly a special place and a huge reason for that, is the support of the athletic department and our athletic directors, the administration, faculty and staff, and the community that I call 'Cowley Nation'. Success doesn't happen alone; I am extremely thankful to my two assistant coaches that I have had in Cassady Cook and Lana Da Silva Milner who were/are both a huge part of the success of our program. Also, I would like to thank our athletic trainer Blake Smith who has also been a huge part of our program in helping our players with injuries, rehab, injury prevention, and being a huge comfort to our players and myself on this great journey at Cowley. Lastly, and most importantly, I am forever honored to have coached such amazing young ladies who were exceptional athletes here at Cowley. These players bought in to our philosophy and had a strong desire to succeed at a high level and be the best they could be. I could not be more proud of each of them and appreciate their commitment to continuing the tradition of excellence that we have had at Cowley. They are the reason I am receiving this amazing honor. That is another reason why I am so excited to be inducted into the 2025 Hall of Fame class, I get to be inducted along with a former player Iva Halacheva, who was a big part of our success."

Gream is now in his 10th year as head coach of the Cowley Volleyball program. Under his leadership, the Lady Tigers have won two undefeated NJCAA DII national championships, five District championships, four Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) championships, appeared in five NJCAA national tournaments, four top five NJCAA national tournament finishes, and set a NJCAA record for most consecutive matches won at 104. Gream has been named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Two Year-College Coach of the Year, AVCA Two-Year College Mid-West Coach of the Year twice, NJCAA DII Coach of the Year twice, NJCAA District Coach of the Year five times, NJCAA tournament Coach of the Tournament twice, Volleyballmag.com Coach of the Year, KJCCC Coach of the Year three times, and received the Gene Stephenson Coach of the Year award.

Throughout his Cowley career, Gream has coached 50 All-KJCCC players, 44 All-District players, 20 NJCAA All-Americans, 11 AVCA All-Americans, five Volleyballmag.com All-Americans, one Betty Jo Graber – NJCAA Female Athlete of the Year selection, one AVCA Two-Year College Player of the Year selection, two NJCAA DII Player of the Year selections, one Volleyballmag.com Player of the Year selection, seven NJCAA All-tournament selections, two NJCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player selections, four KJCCC Most Valuable Player selections, six KJCCC Freshman of the Year selections, six KJCCC Setter of the Year selections, three KJCCC Libero of the Year selections, four Cowley Athletics Female Athlete of the Year award selections, 37 NJCAA All-Academic selections, 34 KJCCC All-Academic selections, and five AVCA Team Academic awards.

On a national level, Gream has been an active member of the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association, serving terms as the president and as the NJCAA DII representative, and has represented the NJCAA in the AVCA. As president of the Volleyball Coaches Association, he was instrumental in bringing the Challenge Review System to the NJCAA and the NJCAA national tournament, helped to support beach volleyball and men's volleyball to move from an emerging sport to a championship sport, and many other contributions to the sport in the NJCAA.

The induction ceremony will be held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 18, 2025 at the NJCAA DII national tournament banquet.