via Ave Maria website/press release

FLN: We looked back and did not notice this posted. Sorry Katelyn! We’ll also post the hiring of Assistant Coach Castro-Rivera tomorrow

AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Ave Maria University athletic department is ecstatic to welcome back Katelyn Sherman as the new head coach of the Gyrene women’s lacrosse program. Sherman is an alum of the University, as well as the lacrosse program’s all-time leading scorer.

“Coach Sherman has a clear vision for AMU lacrosse,” said University Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Patterson. “She embraces the mission of the University, and she will make an indelible mark on the lacrosse program.”

Sherman is excited to come back to Ave Maria. 

“I am honored and humbled to be able to come home to my alma mater and give back to a program I love so much,” she said. “I whole-heartedly believe in the mission of the university, and I am excited to instill my coaching philosophy, faith, and character-rich values to this team.”

Before returning to Ave Maria, Sherman was the head coach at William Penn University in Iowa, a fellow NAIA member. During the 2022 season, the team reached the KCAC Tournament Quarterfinals and produced two all-KCAC players, six KCAC Scholar-Athletes, and four NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

Her collegiate coaching experience also includes two seasons at Elmira College in New York, an NCAA Division III program. She was an assistant coach during the shortened 2020 season, then took the reigns as interim head coach entering the 2021 campaign. In her season as head coach, Elmira’s last as a varsity program, Sherman guided the Soaring Eagles to a winning record, the school’s first in more than a decade.

During her playing career at Ave Maria, Sherman was a dominant attacker. A four-time All-Conference selection and 2017 NAIA Second Team All-American, Sherman scored 142 goals over her four years in southwest Florida, and added 26 assists. Her totals in goals, assists, and points all still stand as Ave Maria career records.

Sherman has continued playing lacrosse since her graduation from Ave Maria. This past summer, Sherman suited up for Team China at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship. Sherman scored a goal in China’s platinum bracket victory over South Korea, and helped the Chinese to a winning record on the biggest stage of women’s lacrosse.

Sherman inherits a team on an upward trajectory, as the Gyrenes’ six wins in 2022 marked the second-highest total in program history, second only to the national tournament qualifiers from 2017 (a team Sherman played on). Ave Maria also won three conference games (including the conference tournament), which also tied a program record. Nearly every single-season record was broken or challenged during the 2022 season, with many of the players responsible scheduled to return.