Bio
Following a legend would be daunting for most people, but Paula Wiedemann took it in stride at Missouri State University-West Plains and became a legend herself.
Wiedemann joined the Grizzly Volleyball program in 1997 and served as assistant coach to fellow Hall of Fame Head Coach Trish Knight. Wiedemann became the program’s second head coach in 2009.
During her 26-year tenure with the team, which ended in March 2023, she helped guide the Grizzlies to 19 Region 16 Championships, five district championships and 18 NJCAA national championship tournament appearances, with eight of those teams finishing in the final four. Her final two appearances with the Grizzlies in the national tournament resulted in back-to-back third place finishes.
Wiedemann helped develop 43 NJCAA All-Americans, 133 All-Region 16 players, 61 NJCAA Academic All-Americans and 18 NJCAA Academic Team Award winners, and she has an overall record of 835-286 with the Grizzlies as an assistant coach and head coach.
In addition to her accomplishments with the team, Wiedemann fulfilled various roles with the NJCAA and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). She served six years as the NJCAA Region 16 Women’s Assistant Region Director and served on the NJCAA committees for D1 Volleyball, Beach Volleyball and Awards. She spent the past three years as the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association president and was most recently the association’s D1 representative.
Wiedemann has been the two-year college representative on the AVCA board since 2019 and has served on the association’s two-year college head coaches committee and the two-year college awards committee.
She was inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in April 2021.
Wiedemann’s impact on Grizzly Volleyball, Grizzly Athletics, MSU-WP community and the greater NJCAA volleyball community will be felt for years to come.
“Paula was the pillar of Grizzly Athletics, having been here since nearly the beginning,” said Rachel Peterson, director of development and annual giving at MSU-WP. “She’s a legendary volleyball coach, known regionally, nationally and internationally. She’s a champion for student-athletes as evidenced by the hundreds of alumni still supporting the program. And she’s a friend. What she’s done for volleyball in this area and Grizzly Athletics as a whole is irreplaceable.”