Veteran head coach Debbie Kirch, who guided the Phoenix to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance, enters her 12th season at Green Bay. She is the longest tenured and winningest volleyball coach in program history.

After inheriting a team that went just 3-26 in 1996, the year prior to her arrival, Kirch resurrected the Green Bay program. In addition to leading the Phoenix to the 2003 NCAA Tournament, she has guided her squads to double-digit win totals six of the past seven seasons, led the 2006 squad to its best Horizon League regular-season finish in school history and boosted Green Bay's win total in five straight years from 1999 through 2003.

The rise of the Phoenix began with Kirch's commitment to recruiting the top in-state talent, as well as players from the best high school and club teams throughout the Midwest. Once acquiring top student-athletes, she has successfully worked to further develop her players' skills, turning the Phoenix into a league contender on a yearly basis.

To illustrate the success of Kirch's program, one can merely look at the numbers. Green Bay has averaged better than 14 wins per season over the last seven years after averaging just seven over the previous 13 campaigns. Green Bay's six double-digit victory seasons in the past seven years are just one fewer than it had in its first 17 years as a program.

In 2003, the Phoenix soared to record heights. A 23-11 record, the program's inaugural league tournament title and the first NCAA Tournament appearance in the history of the program highlighted the landmark season. Ranked among the top 10 teams in the Midwest Region throughout the year, Green Bay showed its mettle with upsets of the top two seeds in the Horizon League tournament. The team's season culminated in a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Minnesota, a team that ultimately advanced to the national semifinals.

The promising campaign opened with six straight wins, a streak the Phoenix later matched in October during league play. In addition, the Phoenix also earned its first-ever win over a Big Ten team that season, as Green Bay upset Indiana in the five-game championship match of the Hoosiers' Taylor/TIS Invitational.

Following the campaign, Kirch earned 2003 Midwest Region Coach of the Year accolades from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, and was among nine finalists for National Coach of the Year honors.

Three years later, she became the first Green Bay volleyball coach to earn career win No. 100, as the Phoenix defeated IUPUI in five games on Sept. 9, 2006. In 11 seasons at the helm, she has 117 wins, which includes 50 league victories. Green Bay had just 23 conference wins in the program's first 12 years.

The Green Bay program took major steps forward beginning in 2001. That season, the Phoenix won its first-ever conference tournament match as a Division I member. In addition, the watershed 2001 season opened with back-to-back non-conference tournament wins at the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Classic and the AmeriHost Invitational. In a testament to the improved talent level and offensive prowess of the team, 15 Green Bay statistical records were broken over the course of the fall.

In 2002, Green Bay posted its first-ever back-to-back league wins over Butler and Wright State, recorded a road upset of league tournament champion Milwaukee and notched its first-ever victory over regional rival DePaul. The team also swept UIC in the first round of the Horizon League championship. The team's tie for third place in the 2002 league standings was the best in 20 years of program history at the time.

Another standout year for the Phoenix came in 2006. Despite being tabbed to finish seventh in the preseason poll, Green Bay earned its highest Horizon League finish ever by tying for second place. The squad's 8-6 league record marked the second time that the program finished better than .500 in league play. Both have occurred in the past five seasons.

The list of individual honors awarded to her players is impressive: two Academic All-Americans, a conference co-Player of the Year, a league tournament MVP, 11 first-team all-league selections, nine all-newcomer picks and a league Defensive Player of the Year. Under her leadership, Green Bay had two individuals earn first-team All-Horizon League honors every year from 2002-05 and one more in 2006. Prior to 2001, the Phoenix hadn't had a first-team all-conference selection since 1989. In addition, setter Betty Slinger led the nation with 11 triple-doubles.

Off the court, Kirch's teams earned four straight appearances on the AVCA Academic Team Award list from 2001-04 and then again in 2007 after the squad led all Green Bay athletics programs with an impressive 3.64 grade-point average during the spring semester. In 2003, the team earned the Horizon League's Community Service and "Raise Your Sights" awards for volunteer hours in the community and the highest team GPA among league-sponsored women's sports at Green Bay.

Last year's squad combined to volunteer nearly 175 hours of community service in the Green Bay area during the 2007-08 academic year.

Prior to her appointment as Green Bay head coach, Kirch served as both the assistant women's volleyball coach and head coach of the men's volleyball club team at Northwestern University. Kirch was also an assistant at Mississippi State University and head coach of both the boys and girls volleyball programs at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill.

She coached five Chicago Tribune all-stars, two all-state members, and three high school players who played at the collegiate Division I level. In 1995, Kirch led the New Trier boys team to a 33-4 record and the Illinois high school state championship. She also served as the school's publications and public information assistant.

Kirch earned a bachelor's degree in communication in 1988 from the University of Denver, where she was a volleyball letterwinner from 1985-87. The defensive specialist was a two-time Continental Divide Conference All-Academic first team selection. She earned a master's degree in sports administration from Mississippi State in 1990.

An avid runner who has twice completed the Green Bay Marathon, Kirch is married to Green Bay associate athletics director Dan McIver. The couple resides on Green Bay's west side.