Gream, Halacheva inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame

Joining Gream and Halacheva in the 2025 class were Dekyra Dennis (Coffeyville), Preecy Seever (Johnson County), Stephanie Champine (Owens), and Thais Baziquetto-Allen (Florida Southwestern / Seward).

"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."

Gream has made a significant 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 fourth place finish, fifth place and sixth place finish, a NJCAA record breaking 104 consecutive match win streak, and has posted an impressive Cowley career record of 344-53 (.867). His 344 wins are second in Cowley history in career wins by a coach behind former head coach Deb Nittler with 389.

"They do not hand these honors out very often, so I appreciate all the people who helped contribute to my induction," Gream said. "I was honored and humbled to be put into the Hall of Fame, especially with Iva, and also having my team there was huge for me."

Halacheva concluded her two-year college career with a series of honors, records, and accomplishments. She recorded 1,583 career kills (#1 in Cowley history), averaged 5.03 kills per set (#1 in Cowley history), recorded 145 service aces (#8 in Cowley history), recorded a .380 hitting percentage (#7 in Cowley history), 605 kills in a season (#3 in Cowley history), recorded a Cowley record 37 kills in a match, recorded double digit kills 96 times in her career, Finished NJCAA National Runner-up (2021), three time NJCAA All-American (2019, 2020, 2021), two time AVCA Two-Year College All-American (2020, 2021), two time Volleyballmag.com All-American (2020, 2021), KJCCC Most Valuable Player, NJCAA National Player of the Week (twice), AVCA Two-Year College Player of the Week, three time NJCAA All-Academic, three time KJCCC All-Academic, and Cowley Athletics Female Athlete of the Year.

"I don't have enough words to say how proud I am of Iva and what she has done for our program," Gream said.

In its 50-year history, Cowley Volleyball has had four individuals named to the NJCAA Volleyball Hall of Fame. Coach Gream and Iva Halacheva join Coach Jenifer Bahner-Hill (2017) and Milica Kusmuk (2022).