SOUTH BEND, Ind.-Â Indiana University South Bend welcomed Cali Topolski as its new volleyball coach for the upcoming 2024 season. A local standout from Saint Joseph High School, Cali’s journey was marked by success both as a player and a coach.
Cali attended high school at Saint Joseph High School where she earned Northern Indiana Conference MVP honors in volleyball her senior year, 2015, as SJHS won the league championship that season.
After high school, Topolski began her collegiate playing career at Vincennes University helping the Trailblazers to a 59-21 record at the NJCAA Division 1 program in her two years. After leaving Vincennes, she played collegiately at IU East for two seasons (2018 & 2019) where she was a two time All-River States Conference selection as a setter while becoming only the sixth player in program history to record over 1,000 career assists, totaling 1,669 in just two seasons.
Following graduation Cali continued her education and playing career at Bournemouth University in England working on her graduate certificate in sports management.
After finishing her playing career, Topolski worked as the assistant coach at IU East the past two seasons. During her two seasons there the IU East Red Wolves compiled an overall record of 53-15 and earned a berth to the NAIA national tournament this past season. Prior to IU East she worked as an assistant coach at Indiana Tech helping them to a 24-13 record during the 2021 season.
Interim Athletic Director Scott Cooper had the following comments regarding the decision to bring Topolski on staff, “We are excited to have Coach Topolski join our team. Her experiences learning from and helping Coach McConaha grow IU East women’s volleyball into a national tournament program should be a huge asset in helping our program get back to that level. Cali emerged amongst a talented applicant pool and during the interview process with her understanding of what it is to coach in the Indiana University system and everything it has to offer. Her humility and growth mindset also stood out to the search committee as traits that could help our program improve on and off the court.”
With Topolski at the helm, the Titans set their sights on a successful 2024 season and future.