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Dave Schmidlin enters his fifth season as head coach of the women’s volleyball team at Lake Superior State University in 2021-22.

In his tenure at LSSU, Schmidlin has totaled a 16-75 overall record. 

Schmidlin coached the Lakers to a 3-22 overall record in 2017 during his first season in the role, and the Lakers won a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match for the first time since the 2014 season. The Lakers would post a 5-22 overall record in 2018, which marked the program’s highest season win total since the 2011 campaign when the team earned eight wins. During the 2018 season, the Lakers doubled their GLIAC win total, winning two conference games for the first time since 2013. In addition, the Lakers went to a decisive fifth set 13 times during the 2018 season. 

During the 2019 season, Schmidlin guided the Lakers to their best season in almost a decade as the team posted an 8-19 overall record, reaching the eight win mark for the first time since the 2011 season. Two of the Lakers eight wins came in conference play, which marked the second straight year that the team has recorded multiple conference wins. Schmidlin’s Lakers first conference win of the 2019 season came on Sept. 27 when Lake State upset the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a 3-1 road win to earn the program’s first win over Northern since Oct. 22, 2005.  Later in the season, Schmidlin coached the Lakers to a four game winning streak from Oct. 12 - Oct. 19, which included a perfect 3-0 record at the Midwest Regional Crossover Tournament.

After the fall 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Schmidlin's Lakers played in a shortened conference-only schedule during the spring of 2021. The Lakers played to an 0-12 record and fell in the opening round of the GLIAC Postseason Tournament. 

Schmidlin, who was named the eighth coach in the LSSU program's 44-year history, served previously as head coach of the men's and women's volleyball teams at fellow NCAA Division II member Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C. for four seasons (2013-16). In the 2014 season at Lees-McRae, Schmidlin directed the women's team to a 19-10 overall record and a semifinal appearance in the Conference Carolinas Tournament.

Prior to Lees-McRae, Schmidlin enjoyed a highly successful 2012 season as the varsity boys' volleyball head coach at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis., where he guided CMHS to a 23-9 overall mark and a state tourney quarterfinal-round berth en route to being recognized as the 2012 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Area Coach of the Year. 

Schmidlin held the head coaching post for the men's volleyball program at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis., for just over three seasons (2009-12), compiling a 56-37 record.  He quickly made an impact in his first season as the 2010 team finished at 26-13 overall to go with a national semifinal tourney appearance.  The following year (2011), Schmidlin's squad turned in an 18-15 record overall and won 10 league matches for the second year in a row.  While at Cardinal Stritch, Schmidlin mentored three all-americans, seven all-conference athletes, and one Mid-America Men's Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference (MAMVIC) Player of the Year.

From 2003-06, Schmidlin was the women's volleyball head coach at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.  At OU, his teams maintained a 3.3 GPA over the course of four seasons as 25 of his Golden Grizzly student-athletes achieved all-conference academic recognition.

A native of Beverly Hills, Mich., Schmidlin began his coaching career in 1992 as the assistant men's volleyball coach at Indiana University–Purdue University (IPFW) in Fort Wayne, Ind.  He also was the program's recruiting coordinator and strength & conditioning coordinator during his 10-year stint at IPFW.  The Mastodons posted a 153-100 record (.604 win pct.) during Schmidlin's tenure at IPFW, winning or sharing three conference titles, and advancing twice (1994 and 1999) to the NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball Championships.

Schmidlin has a well-documented history of leading programs to success in the classroom as well, evidenced by guiding his Cardinal Stritch squad to a 3.3 grade-point average over two seasons while nine student-athletes earned all-conference academic honors in the process. 

Schmidlin is a 1999 graduate of IPFW with a Bachelor of Arts degree in general studies and a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).  He also worked with the USA Volleyball High Performance Program as a talent evaluator for various national team programs for over 15 years.