Southwest Minnesota State University Women's Volleyball

Boddy has joined the staff, SMSU has appeared in five NCAA tournaments and finished as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. Boddy, a native of New Ulm, Minn., came to SMSU after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He was also an assistant for one season at Ripon College. Tyler, a 2012 graduate of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, lives in Marshall with his wife, Alex.

Tyler Boddy vs. Opponents Tyler Boddy enters his fifth season as head coach in 2026 and has a career record of 90-26 overall, including 57-19 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. He has led the Mustangs to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances during his three seasons as head coach.    Boddy, who spent 10 years as an assistant coach at SMSU, became the fifth head coach in the program’s 50-year history on Dec. 17, 2021. In Boddy's most recent season, 2025, the Mustangs finished with a 21-7 record, including a 14-6 record in NSIC play. The Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 6 in the AVCA Top 25 Poll, closing the year at No. 16. SMSU's signature victory that season was a five-set win over national runner-up Concordia-St. Paul, the only loss the Golden Bears would suffer in conference action.  Junior outside hitter Leah Jones was named an AVCA All-American honorable mention, as well as AVCA and CCA All-Region honors, and earned All-NSIC first team honors. Sydney Thein, Ashley Peltier, and McKenzie Tolk all earned All-NSIC second team honors. Thein earned NSIC Setter of the Week twice during the 2025 season, while Jones and Tolk were awarded with Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week respectively. SMSU had four student-athletes earn CSC Academic All-District honors.   In the 2024 season, Boddy once again led the Mustangs to the NCAA tournament. SMSU finished the year 23-6 overall and 14-4 in NSIC play, climbing as high as No. 4 in the AVCA Top 25 Poll before closing the year at No. 16. SMSU had its best start since the 2017 season winning its first 14 games, and best start in conference play since 2019, beginning a perfect 5-0 in NSIC contests. A well-rounded Mustang defensive unit saw the 2024 team finish 10th in school history in digs per set (19.49), with junior libero McKenzie Tolk setting the school record in digs per set (5.40), while her 605 digs rank seventh in a single season at SMSU. SMSU junior libero McKenzie Tolk was named an AVCA All-Region honorable mention and AVCA All-American honorable mention, as well as All-NSIC second team. Redshirt freshman Sydney Thein was named to the All-NSIC first team after earning NSIC Setter of the Week three times (9/23, 9/30, 10/28), while Leah Jones, Saari Kuehl, and Ashley Peltier all earned All-NSIC second team accolades. SMSU had four student-athletes earn CSC Academic All-District honors. In his second season as head coach in 2023, Boddy elevated the Mustangs back to the national stage. SMSU earned its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2018, ending a five-year drought. SMSU finished the year going 23-7 overall and 14-4 in NSIC play, ranking as high as No. 5 in the national poll before finishing the season ranked at No. 11. The season was highlighted by numerous victories over nationally-ranked opponents, including defeating No. 6 St. Cloud State and No. 14 Minnesota Duluth both in four sets in the same weekend. SMSU freshman Leah Jones was named the NSIC and AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year, while also earning All-NSIC first team accolades. Alisa Bengen, Saari Kuehl and McKenzie Tolk all earned All-NSIC second team accolades. The team also had four players earn CSC Academic All-District honors. In his first season as head coach in 2022, Boddy kept the Mustangs moving in the right direction, going 23-6 overall and 15-5 in NSIC play while ranking as high as No. 5-nationally before finishing the season ranked No. 12 and just missing an NCAA tournament bid. SMSU's record included a pair of top-five victories, highlighted by a five set thriller over No. 1 Wayne State on Oct. 22. Boddy also opened his career with 11 straight victories, the longest streak to begin a coaching career in SMSU history. Three Mustangs, Meg Schmidt (first team), Emma VanHeel (second team) and Bengen (second team) earned All-NSIC honors, while four players were named CSC Academic All-District. Boddy joined the SMSU coaching staff in 2012 and since that time the program has appeared in nine NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. In Boddy's 13 seasons at SMSU, the Mustangs have a combined record of 294-83, which includes two NSIC regular season titles, two NSIC tournament championships and nine appearances in the NCAA tournament.   Since joining the staff, Boddy has recruited or coached 48 All-NSIC honorees, 17 AVCA All-Americans, a three-time NSIC Player of the Year, a two-time AVCA National Player of the Year, a NSIC Freshman of the Year, an AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year, and three CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-Americans.   For his efforts during his coaching career, Boddy was named a recipient of the Thirty Under 30 Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in April of 2019. He was promoted to associate head coach in the summer of 2021.   Boddy, a native of New Ulm, Minn., came to SMSU after spending two seasons (2010-11) as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh and one season (2009) at Ripon College. Boddy has also had a successful coaching career in club volleyball with his Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Club teams winning national championships in 2014 and 2018.   Boddy, a 2012 graduate of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, lives in Marshall with his wife, Alex, sons, Bronx and Wilke, and daughter, Rowan.   Tyler Boddy Year-by-Year at SMSU Year School Overall Conference NSIC Finish 2022 SMSU 23-6 15-5 4th 2023 SMSU 23-7 14-4 3rd 2024 SMSU 23-6 14-4 4th 2025 SMSU 21-7 14-6 7th Overall 4 years 90-26 57-19    

Emma VanHeel is in her second season as a graduate assistant at SMSU. In her first season on the volleyball staff, the Mustangs finished the 2025 season with a 21-7 record, and a 14-6 conference record. Before coaching, VanHeel spent four seasons as a member of the SMSU volleyball team, earning All-NSIC second team honors twice (2022, 2024) and three Academic All-NSIC nominations. VanHeel graduated from SMSU in 2025 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and is currently working toward's a masters degree in business administration.

Mariah Van Asperen is in her third season as assistant volleyball coach at SMSU in 2026.  In her second season, the Mustangs finished with a 21-7 record, and a 14-6 record in NSIC play. Van Asperen named to the position on Jan. 19, 2024. During her first season she helped the Mustangs finish 23-6 overall and qualify for the NCAA tournament.    Van Asperen is no stranger to SMSU having served as a graduate assistant for the program during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.   Following her two-year stay at SMSU, Van Asperen moved to the University of Sioux Falls where she spent the 2021 season as an assistant coach. She most recently has served as the head softball coach at Vermillion High School (S.D.) in 2022 and has taught in both the Vermillion and Union Township (Ind.) school districts.   Van Asperen has also coached several seasons of club volleyball for the Kingsport, Southwest Minnesota and Pentagon programs.   Van Asperen a 2019 graduate of East Tennessee State University with a degree in elementary education. She was a member of the ETSU volleyball team for four seasons, appearing in 116 career matches, while recording 559 kills and 337 blocks. As a senior in 2018, McPartland led the team with 143 blocks and ranked fourth on the squad with 234 kills.   Mariah and husband, Nate, who is a graduate of SMSU and was a member of the SMSU football program, live in Marshall with daughter, Grace.