Eastern Illinois University Athletics

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Eastern Illinois head volleyball coach Sara Thomas has had success at all levels of volleyball both as a player and as a coach.  Hired as the 13th head volleyball coach in December 2019, Thomas completed her fourth season (2023 campaign) with the Panthers posting a 28-5 record and a 15-3 record in conference play. 

In 2023, Thomas was named the OVC's Coach of the Year after guiding Eastern to their first OVC regular season title since 2004, and their first outright since 1998, as the Panthers posted their highest win total in over four decades. EIU also won the OVC Tournament to claim their first NCAA Tournament bid since the 2001 season. 

Under Thomas' leadership, Giovana Larregui Lopez won her second OVC Player of the Year award, while Catalina Rochaix was named the conference's Setter of the Year. Four Panthers were named to the All-OVC First Team, including Larregui Lopez and Rochaix, as well as Christina Martinez Mundo and Natalie Mitchem.

As a team in 2023, EIU recorded 1702 kills, which led the OVC and were the most by a Panthers team since 2014. Eastern also led the conference in hitting percentage (.273), assists (1603, 12.93 APS), service aces (245, 1.98 APS), and points (2166.5, 17.47 PPS). Their .275 team hitting percentage was the best in program history, and their 245 service aces were the most in the rally scoring era (since 2001). 

Thomas led the Panthers to the fourth seed in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament during the 2022 season. EIU posted their most wins in a season since 2015. Thomas also coached the third OVC Player of the Year in Eastern Illinois with newcomer Giovana Larregui Lopez. Lopez was also the second player in EIU history to earn AVCA All-American honorable mention. Kaitlyn Flynn along with Lopez were selected to the first team All-OVC team with libero Christina Martinez Mundo also earning second team.

As a team in 2022, EIU recorded 1483 kills which marks the most by an EIU team since 2015. The team also compiled 170 service aces during the season which marked the most in the 25-point rally scoring era. Lopez's 405 kills were the most since 2014 while Martinez Mundo's 598 digs were the most in school history.

In the NCAA, the Panthers ranked 45th in team digs. Martinez Mundo ranked seventh in total digs and 17th in digs per set. Flynn's average of 4.18 kills per set ranked 27th in the country while Lopez's 0.50 aces per set ranked 19th.

During the 2021 season, EIU won both the EIU Panther Invitational and SIU Saluki Tournament as they returned to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2017 season.  The team finished with double figure wins with one first team All-OVC selection in outside hitter Danielle Allen. 

Prior to the start of the 2021 season, EIU announced the addition of Beach Volleyball becoming the first Division I school in the state of Illinois to offer the rising NCAA sport.  Thomas serves as the assistant coach for the EIU Beach program which debuted in the spring of 2022, while associate head coach Manolo Concepcion serves as the head beach coach.  Thomas brings experience in the Beach Volleyball format having played on both the EVP and AVP next tournaments and continues to play in double adult beach tournaments. 

Thomas brings with her a championship mindset developed as a student-athlete with the aim of rejuvenating the winning tradition that EIU Panther Volleyball has had in the past.  EIU volleyball continues to have success in the classroom earning AVCA Academic Team Award honors for the 2020 & 2021 seasons.  The long-established custom of attaining All-Academic Team Awards through standards of excellence, along with reaching the top as one of the most committed sports to serving the community through volunteerism, have become essential aspects for the foundation of EIU volleyball’s organizational culture.  

Success has followed Thomas throughout the stages of her volleyball career as both a prep and collegiate player where she helped lead Missouri State to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances capped by Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior. As a coach Thomas has had success working with USA Volleyball as a High Performance Coach and as the club director at Metro East Fire VBC.  As the head coach at Belleville Althoff Catholic High School she led the school on several deep runs in the IHSA State Tournament winning the 2017 IHSA Class 3A State Title with a 41-1 record.  She continued that success as an assistant coach on the collegiate level at her alma mater, Missouri State, helping the program continue its streak of NCAA Tournament appearances before taking over the EIU program and increasing the win total in just two quick seasons.