STANFORD, Calif. – Denise Corlett, a 31-year member of the women's volleyball staff and nine-time national champion with the program, announced Tuesday she is retiring from her coaching role at Stanford.
"It has been an honor to spend the past 31 years with Stanford women's volleyball," said Corlett, who recently completed her 24th year as the program's associate head coach. "I am proud of what we have built and the continued success the program has achieved. It is a testament to the young women who have come through the program and the legacies they have left behind. It has truly been my pleasure to coach them."
A two-time AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, the Cardinal was 875-146 (.857) during Corlett's association with the program. She was on staff for an unprecedented nine NCAA championships and 18 Pac-12 championships. The Cardinal twice won three NCAA titles in a four-year span during her tenure (1994, 1996-97 and 2016, 2018-19). The conference titles included six in a row between 1994-99, and more recently 10 of the past 14 seasons.
At Stanford, Corlett coached in 14 national championship matches, helped lead the team to 17 final fours and mentored 38 players to 93 AVCA All-America awards. She was also a part of Stanford's first beach volleyball staff, serving as an associate head coach from 2013-15 and the head coach of the program in 2016. Last spring, she was inducted into the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame.
"I want to thank Denise for her tireless dedication to the program," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "Her knowledge and experience with the team and university have been invaluable during my three seasons on The Farm. Denise has been a mainstay on the Stanford sideline and will be missed within the Stanford community."
Over the years, Corlett also made a name for herself at the national level. She spent time as an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team during multiple World University Games and was on the sideline for the 2003 Pan American Games. She also held positions in management with USA Volleyball, including business manager for the U.S. Women's National Team in the 1980s and the head of delegation for the U.S. Junior National Team from 2007-13.
Prior to Stanford, Corlett served as an assistant at San Jose State (1987-88) and spent five years assisting at UCLA (1982-86), her alma mater. She held a graduate assistant position for the Bruins for two years and was a volunteer assistant for three.
Corlett received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from UCLA in 1981. At UCLA, Corlett played three varsity sports and was named the All-University Athlete of the Year in 1979. She was the national badminton champion in 1977 and won the Broderick Award in that sport. She was a three-time All-American in volleyball and played on the Bruins' national champion women's basketball team. In 1999, she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
Stanford will immediately begin a national search for her replacement.