University of Chicago Women's Volleyball

Mitchell McPartland enters his fourth year as the Head Women's Volleyball Coach and his seventh year as a part of the women's volleyball program at the University of Chicago in the 2025-26 academic year. He served as the Interim Head Coach in 2021 and an Assistant Coach in 2019 and 2020. The 2022 campaign featured a 20-13 season record and a return to the NCAA Division III Championship for the 11th time since 2010, with the Maroons advancing to the Second Round.  The 2021 Maroons were nationally ranked throughout the fall season and posted a 17-10 overall record. After playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, UChicago qualified for the NCAA Tournament. McPartland and Assistant Coach Thom Guzi also received the University Athletic Association (UAA) Co-Coaching Staff of the Year award. The historic 2019 season featured numerous program firsts for the Maroons. UChicago was ranked No. 1 in the national coaches poll during the regular season, set a new school record for winning percentage (.875), won 23 matches in-a-row and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Championship. Three Maroons were named All-Americans - setter Emma Griffith (1st Team), middle hitter Madison Pearson (Third Team) and outside hitter Anne Marie Stifter (H.M.). UChicago ranked highly in the nation in kills per set (9th), digs per set (12th) and assists per set (13th). UChicago was honored as 2019 UAA Coaching Staff of the Year after the Maroons posted a perfect 7-0 Round Robin record and runner-up finish in the UAA Championship. McPartland worked the 2018 season as a volunteer assistant women's volleyball coach at University of South Florida. USF finished with 20 wins and earned its first postseason appearance in 17 years. His primary position groups were the defensive specialists and outside hitters. McPartland's other NCAA Division I experience came at Drake University in the 2016 season as an assistant coach. He worked heavily with serve receive and defense, helping the team rank 10th nationally with 17.67 digs per set. He also spent over five years as a club volleyball head coach at St. Pete Volleyball Club (Florida), Iowa Power Volleyball and All Iowa Attack Volleyball Club. As an undergraduate, McPartland was a four-year starter on the men's volleyball team at Grand View University. He was picked as the NAIA North Division Libero of the Year in 2014, and also excelled in the classroom with three Academic All-Conference honors. During that time, the Vikings finished in third place twice and runner-up once at the NAIA National Invitational Tournament. McPartland graduated from Grand View with a bachelor's degree in health promotion. He also spent one season as head junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach at his alma mater. Mitchell resides in Hyde Park with his husband, Anthony. McPartland Record at UChicago Year Overall UAA UAA Finish 2021 17-10 7-3 3rd 2022 20-13 7-3 5th 2023 11-16 4-6 4th 2024 25-11 5-5 3rd Total   73-50   23-17     Overall Win Percentage: .593 UAA Winning Percentage: .575 NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025

Jennifer Buckman enters her fourth year as the Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach at the University of Chicago in the 2025-26 academic year. In her first year with the Maroons, the 2022 campaign featured a 20-13 season record and a return to the NCAA Division III Championship for the 11th time since 2010, with the Maroons advancing to the Second Round.  Buckman came to the Hyde Park campus from Ithaca College, where she held the role of assistant coach for three seasons (2019-21). In addition to her work with the middle blockers position group, she also assisted with coordinating recruiting, practices and strategy planning for the team. The Bombers advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 during the 2019 season and finished the year with a 20-11 overall record. Ithaca made its return to the NCAA postseason in 2021, after the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. As a collegiate student-athlete, Buckman played volleyball at fellow NCAA Division III school Transylvania University from 2015-18. She played outside hitter and was a team captain for the Pioneers. Buckman helped lead the team to its first-ever regular season conference championship in 2018. She was also an academic all-conference honoree during her career. Buckman has been an active coach in the club volleyball scene. She was the head coach at Lexington United (Kentucky) and Little Red Volleyball Club (New York) at the U13, U14 and U16 club levels. The Louisville, Ky. native graduated from Transylvania in 2019 with bachelor's degrees in both psychology and Spanish language & literature. She earned her master's degree in exercise & sport sciences from Ithaca in 2022.