Assumption's Kordes named MaxPreps National High School Volleyball Coach of the Year

Some day, when people Google the word legend, a picture of the Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) girls volleyball coach might pop up next to Alabama football coach Nick Saban or Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma. Kordes already has that status in Kentucky.

Kordes will only laugh at such praise. When asked what it takes to be a great coach, he simply says "great players."

The players will tell you a great coach can make players great.

Kordes' Assumption girls volleyball team was recently crowned the 2018 MaxPreps high school volleyball National Champion. Many consider this version of the Rockets to be the "best ever" high school volleyball team.

Assumption went 43-0, won its 21st state volleyball championship and ended the season with a 57-match winning streak. They lost just eight sets against one of the toughest schedules in the nation.

More than a dozen Rockets will play at the next level.

It's little surprise that Kordes has been named 2018 MaxPreps national high school volleyball Coach of the Year. He fosters success. He's coached three unbeaten Assumption squads and, during one stretch of his 30-year career, won 177 in-state matches in a row. His overall career winning percentage is over .910.


Assumption's dominance and winning culture began 30 years ago when Kordes and his daughter, Anne, led the Rockets to their first state title. It's also when Kordes took the reins of the program.

"That's when the culture we've built began," said Kordes, who also runs the Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Association. "We felt we were under-sized with that team and tried to instill competitive attitudes. You have to get into the trenches. … You have to believe you are going to win. You have to instill that belief.

"There are X and Os freaks, but if there is anything I have done well, it is communication and motivation. We have to convince people they can do things that they can't do," he added. "We are fortunate with skill players and bought into concept."

At Assumption, they are believers.

A competitive athlete, Kordes' sports of choice were golf and basketball. He played both at Flagler High School and golf at the University of Louisville, where he also played freshman basketball with future National Basketball Association standouts Wes Unseld and Butch Beard.

Kordes' coaching career began in 1981 at St. Raphael, a Catholic elementary school in Louisville. When the opening at Assumption came open, he jumped at it.

"I had played some adult volleyball. I was never a great player; I just enjoyed it," he said. "So when the opportunity came to coach, I said I'd take it. And I fell in love with it."

It's a pride plus passion love affair for the MaxPreps National Coach of the Year.

"I eat, breathe and think about volleyball all the time," Kordes said.

That love of the game mixed with his competitive nature has made him among the all-time greats.

Kordes ranks in the top-20 all-time on the National Federal High School list for career volleyball coaching victories (seventh among active coaches). Assumption is tied for fifth nationally with 21 state championships.

The gymnasium floor at Assumption is named in his honor and he's a member of the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2012, he was named National High School co-Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

The debate has begun if this 2018 Rocket team is the best-ever prep squad. Kordes won't come and out and say it his best ever team. But he will add they were tall, deep at every position and impressive in many areas.

"They were very special and pretty impressive in every aspect of the game," said Kordes, adding the girls handled the pressure better than he did. "The target on their got back got bigger and bigger each week."

Kordes says his goals each year are to play the toughest schedule possible and win the state title. To do that takes a competitive atmosphere.

The last time the Rockets didn't compete well, he said, was in a pair of 2017 losses — to Maris (Chicago) and Walton (Marietta, Ga.).

"We didn't prepare to win in those matches. … We thought we were going to win," said Kordes. "It's a good reminder to get back to taking each match one at a time. Do it any other way and it's too much pressure, too quick."

Kordes made sure the Rockets were prepared this year. In winning the ASICS Tournament in Chicago and the Durango Invitational in Las Vegas, the Rockets lost just one set in each showing. Those two tournaments are arguably two of the top three between the left and right coasts.

"Focusing on what we can control, such as winning a state title, is something we can control." Said Kordes. "Being ranked is something we cannot control. Going undefeated, well … knowing the group we had coming back from 2017 (42-3), we had it in our minds about running the table."

Despite the high number of future Division I players, Kordes said he doesn't pick top players such as most valuable.

"On any given night, we had a different MVP," he said. "It's a team sport. If we are going to go 43-0 it is because we are a team … not anyone one individual."

The 2018 Rockets had depth, height, standouts and role players. A dozen future collegians on one high school team is very impressive, possibly even record setting.

It also had a legendary coach guiding them to a perfect season.