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OUAZ Athletics

Kristin Steele_2025

Kristin Steele

COACHING ACCOLADES
  • Heart of America Coach of the Year (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
  • NCCAA West Region Coach of the Year (2020)
  • GSAC Coach of the Year (2021)

Kristin Steele begins her seventh season as head coach of the OUAZ women's program in 2023. The only head coach in the program's history, Steele has a 85-70 (.548) record leading the Spirit and is coming off the program's first-ever conference championship.

Steele has been a head coach at the JC and NAIA level for 26 seasons and has a record of 541-324 (.625) with seven national tournament appearances. In her 13 seasons in the NAIA, Steele’s teams have a 260-141 (.648) overall record with six conference titles. Her teams have finished with a winning record in nine of those seasons.

Her five seasons at OUAZ have resulted in three NAIA All-American selections, five NCCAA All-Americans, and seven All-GSAC performers. Steele was named the 2021 GSAC Coach of the Year.

OUAZ (2017 – Present)

OUAZ put together the best season in the young program’s history in 2021 with a 26-4 overall record, the GSAC title, and the program’s first trip to the NAIA National Championship. The team won a program-record 14 consecutive matches during one stretch and achieved a No. 16 national ranking.

In an abbreviated 2020 season played in the spring of 2021, OUAZ went 10-6 and placed second in the GSAC with a 7-3 record in conference play. When the season ended, the .625 winning percentage was the highest in program history.

The 2019 season was a battle for the Spirit as they finished 7-20 overall playing their toughest schedule to date. OUAZ placed ninth in the GSAC with its 3-15 record in league matches. The team was able to open Faith Arena in its final home match of the season to build momentum for the future of the program.

OUAZ saw its first winning season in program history during the 2018 season as Steele Guided the Spirit to a 17-14 overall mark. The seven-win improvement over the inaugural season was among the best turnarounds by any of the OUAZ programs from year one to two. The Spirit finished 8-10 in GSAC matches to place seventh and one game out of the conference tournament. OUAZ made its first postseason appearance with a trip to the NCCAA West Regional where they finished in second place.

With Steele building the program from nothing in just a few months, the 2017 OUAZ team put together a 10-13 overall record that included multiple wins over future GSAC rivals. The Spirit earned a five-set win over Southwest (N.M.) in the program's first-ever match.

Before OUAZ

MidAmerica Nazarene (2010-2016): Steele came to OUAZ after spending seven seasons as the women’s volleyball head coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University. The most successful coach in program history, she led the Pioneers to a 175-71 (.711) overall record and five trips to the NAIA National Championship, including a run to the quarterfinals in 2012. She earned four Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors, five HAAC championships, four HAAC tournaments, and posted two undefeated conference regular seasons.
 
The 2012 Pioneers finished the season a perfect 9-0 in regular season conference play and 3-0 in the conference tournament, marking the first time in program history that the Pioneers had a perfect showing against HAAC schools. After hosting and defeating St. Thomas University in the Opening Round of the NAIA National Championship, the 18th-seeded Pioneers rolled through pool play undefeated knocking off No. 5 Embry-Riddle, No. 8 Hastings, and No. 20 Bellevue, advancing to the quarterfinals before bowing out to No. 4 Biola.

Redlands Community College (1997-2009): Before MNU, Steele was the head coach at Redlands College in Oklahoma, a program she started in 1997. Her Cougars were ranked in the NJCAA top 20 ten of the fourteen seasons she coached and advanced to the conference tournament all fourteen years. Steele had three region championships, six region runner-up finishes, and went to the NJCAA National Tournament once.

Playing Career (University of Central Oklahoma)

Steele began coaching after a standout career as a player at the University of Central Oklahoma. At UCO, she was a 4-year starting middle blocker, an all-conference athlete, and a first-team all-conference honoree. Steele still holds several playing records at her alma mater, including the highest single-match hitting percentage (.800), most career solo (177), and assist blocks (515). In 2008, she was named to the Broncho Athletic Hall of Fame.

Personal

Steele and her husband Kevin, OUAZ Director of Athletics, reside in Surprise.