Last year, Bradley welcomed three new head coaches to the Hilltop: softball’s Sarah Willis, volleyball’s Alicia Williams and women’s basketball’s Kate Popevec-Goss. This week, our One-On-One adds a third debater in choosing which new head coach will find the most success in year one.
Bradley found gold in Willis
By Caden Sexton
New Bradley softball head coach Sarah Willis is going to have lots of success on the Hilltop. After being named head coach in June, she became the 11th head coach in the program’s history.
Before making her way to the Hilltop, Willis managed at Bowling Green State University for seven seasons. In her first six seasons, Willis managed to win over 22 games in four of those seasons. She ended her run on a high note, finishing 34-21 in her final season with the Falcons in 2022 and taking them to the postseason for the first time in 18 years.
With the ability to develop young players into winners, there’s high hopes for her doing the same in Peoria, especially since she inherits a much more talented roster than she had with the Falcons. Last season, Bradley had a 26-26 record, going 13-14 against the Valley. They ended as the fifth seed in the conference, beating Loyola in the first round of the Missouri Valley softball playoffs 4-1 before losing to the fourth-seeded Drake Bulldogs.
Willis has the potential to turn this group into a playoff winning team. They may have ended .500 last season, but they showed resilience after losing multiple key players heading into the year. Willis will be able to instill the confidence in the players to play their top game wherever and whoever they play against.
With a bright season ahead for Willis, she coaches her first game of the fall exhibition season on Sept. 10 in a doubleheader versus Lake Land Community College.
Highly experienced Alicia Williams will succeed on the Hilltop
By Luke Kotcher
New volleyball head coach Alicia Williams might have one of the most impressive resumes around as she looks to guide Bradley back to the postseason.
The 10th coach in Bradley volleyball history, Williams comes from Iowa Western Community College, where she won back-to-back NJCAA championships. In her nine-year career with the Reivers, she produced an impressive 335-44 record.
In the 2020-2021 season, her team finished with a 26-3 record after 23 consecutive wins and a 33-4 record in 2021. She was named NJCAA Coach of the Year in both championship seasons.
Williams looks to lead this experienced Bradley squad back to the postseason. After a disappointing defeat to Indiana State in last year’s tournament, there are 13 returning players from last season.
Along with Williams, Bradley added outside-hitter Maike Bertens Deckart from Iowa Western. The native of Chile was an NJCAA All-American last season.
Adding to her impressive coaching career, Williams is familiar with the MVC. In her playing days with former rival Creighton, her team made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2010. With the Bluejays, Williams averaged 3.73 kills per set in her senior season.
Between her playing and coaching career at Iowa Western, Williams boasted a 543-65 record. With that much success on one team, Coach Williams is bound to have a successful tenure with the Braves.
BU was picked to finish fourth in the MVC for the fourth year in a row. With the experience of Coach Williams and the squad of 10 upperclassmen and seven underclassmen, Bradley looks to make a statement in the Valley this season.
Kate Popovec-Goss will make the most noise in year one
By Latif Love
First year head coach Kate Popovec-Goss will be the most successful first year coach at Bradley this season because she specializes in recruiting, developing players and locking down on defense, which will be instrumental to the Braves’ success.
As recruiting coordinator at Northwestern, Popovec-Goss oversaw the recruitment of the Class of 2025 that was ranked No. 10 according to ESPN. During her short time at Bradley, she has already brought in four transfers that can help improve the team.
Among those transfers is sophomore guard Alex Rouse, who averaged 25.5 points per game in high school. The Braves will also return the 2021 MVC Freshman of the Year Caroline Waite, who averaged 13 points per game last season.
Popovec-Goss is also great at mentoring and developing players, especially forwards and centers. While at Northwestern, players thrived under Popovec-Goss’s leadership. Two of the forwards under her tutelage at Northwestern earned all-conference honors in 2019-2020. The development of frontcourt play will be big this season and much needed for the Braves. Last season, over a 28 game span, Bradley was outrebounded by an average of 6.6 rebounds per game.
Bringing in Popovec-Goss as head coach should strengthen the Braves’ defense. Last year, the Braves allowed nearly 70 points per game. In her first season at the helm of Northwestern’s stout defense, Popovec-Goss led the Wildcats to the best scoring defense in Big Ten play, allowing just under 61 points a game.
Bringing in a young, but experienced, coach who can relate and get the most out of her players will prove to lead to success for the Braves this season.
