University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire Women's Volleyball

Kim Wudi enters her 19th season as Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2025. Under Wudi's guidance, the Blugolds have won one national championship, reached two Final Fours, participated in 11 NCAA Tournaments and captured five WIAC regular-season championships. With Wudi at the helm, the Blugolds stormed to a 35-3 record in 2021 and capped off the season with the program's first national championship. The Blugolds swept Calvin 3-0 in the national finals to bring home the trophy, ending the year with 16 consecutive victories. A four-time WIAC Coach of the Year recipient (2010, 2018, 2021 and co-coach in 2008), Wudi currently ranks eighth on the all-time WIAC wins list with 379 and a win percentage of .690. Under Wudi, the Blugolds have tied for WIAC regular season championships in 2008, 2010, and 2011, and won the title outright in 2018 and 2021 with an undefeated conference record each year. UW-Eau Claire secured the WIAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in 2012, 2018 and 2021 by winning the WIAC Tournament. The team competed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007, 2011, 2019 and 2022 and advanced to the second round in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2015. The 2018 squad earned their way to the Final Four before losing in five sets to Calvin University in the semifinal match. UW-Eau Claire finished the 2018 season ranked No. 4 in Division III in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. In recognition of the team’s outstanding performance, the AVCA named Wudi the Midwest Region Coach of the Year and 2018 National Coach of the Year. From 1996-1999 Wudi (then Kim Arndt) played for the Blugolds under Hall of Fame coach Lisa Herb. The team compiled a 101-40 record, and Wudi served as a two-time team co-captain. She was a three-time all-conference pick and earned second team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 1998 and first team honors in 1999. She earned four team awards: Rookie of the Year, Hustle Award, and two-time Most Dedicated Award. She also is a two-time Blugold Super Six Award recipient, which is awarded annually to the top six student-athletes who excel on and off the court/field and classroom. Wudi graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2000 from UW-Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology education and received one of the university’s Outstanding Senior awards. She earned her Master of Education in Professional Development degree from UW-Eau Claire in 2009. Wudi taught science and coached varsity volleyball at Durand High School from 2001-2003. She then taught at Eau Claire Memorial High School from 2003-2007, where she also served as assistant volleyball coach for two seasons. While still teaching at Memorial, Wudi returned to her alma mater and joined Lisa Herb’s staff, serving as an assistant coach from 2005-2006. The Blugolds advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in each of those seasons and shared the WIAC title in 2006. Wudi coached for Eau Claire Air Volleyball club from 1997-2009 and directed the club from 2006-2011. She earned the USA Volleyball Service Award for Outstanding Female Coach in 2005, and in 2006 she received the USA Volleyball Robert L. Lindsey Meritorious Service Award. She has served on the Badger Region Volleyball Association Board of Directors since 2012 and has been the Badger Region Secretary since 2017. Wudi is a member of the AVCA Division III Head Coaches Committee and presently serves on the NCAA Midwest Regional Advisory Committee. She advises the UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s volleyball clubs and has served on numerous campus committees. Blugold Volleyball Camps and Clinics, directed by Wudi, have grown to nine different camp offerings for campers entering grades K-12. In July 2021, over 800 campers participated in volleyball camps at UW-Eau Claire. The volleyball program also hosts tournaments for local and regional youth teams during the winter, attracting nearly 1500 prospective students to campus each year. Wudi resides in Eau Claire with her husband Jason and their two daughters, Layla and Sophia. 

Jodi Risen enters her 17th season as an assistant volleyball coach in 2025 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Risen has helped the Blugolds win one national championship, reach two Final Fours and capture four conference titles during her time at UW-Eau Claire. Risen helped coach the Blugolds to conference titles in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021 along with NCAA Tournament appearances in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The Blugolds won the Division III national championship in 2021, the first title in program history. Risen joined the UW-Eau Claire volleyball family in 2003 as a Blugold student-athlete. She led the team to a share of the WIAC title in 2006 and to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and 2006. She was named to the WIAC all-conference team in 2006. From 2003 to 2009, Risen coached at the 18-and-under level for Eau Claire Air Volleyball Club. She graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 2007 as a Sports Pedagogy major and taught four-year-old kindergarten at Brighter Beginnings Early Learning Center from 2007-2012 before opening her own in-home daycare. She is married to Matt Risen and the couple has one son (Camdyn) and two daughters (Chloe & Carsyn).

Alex Berger enters her Eighth season as an assistant volleyball coach in 2025 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Alex joined the Blugolds staff in 2018 after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Augsburg University and helping the Auggies to the MIAC title in 2016. She also brings extensive club coaching experience, having coached for Mizuno Northern Lights for six years. In 2018, Berger helped the Blugolds finish 33-4 and claim the WIAC tournament championship following an undefeated conference season. The Blugolds won three matches en route to a regional championship, and advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time in school history. She later helped the Blugolds earn their first national championship as a member of the coaching staff on the 2021 NCAA title-winning team. Berger played collegiate volleyball at Northern Michigan University, where she was a two-time team captain. She earned All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-team honors and was named her team’s Most Valuable Player both her junior and senior seasons. Berger holds Wildcat records for digs per set in a career and single season, as well as total number of digs in a single season. She ranks second all-time at NMU in total career digs. Berger graduated from Northern Michigan in April 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sport and Exercise Science.