Karen Farrell completed her 23rd season as Case Western Reserve University’s head volleyball coach in 2024 leading the team back to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and fourth time in program history. The Spartans finished the season with an overall record of 24-8, their third consecutive 20-win campaign. The team finished the regular season second in the University Athletic Association standings and placed fourth in the conference tournament. Both junior middle blocker Amanda Ngo (Third Team) and senior outside hitter Rea Marfatia (honorable mention) received AVCA All-America honors and All-UAA First Team selections. Ngo, Marfatia, senior Lily Crouch, and senior Carly Scott were all named to the CSC Academic All-District Team. Farrell earned her 500th career win as Head Coach with a sweep of Earlham at home on September 7 and finished the season with 516 career victories, including 439 at CWRU.

In 2023, CWRU finished the season with an overall record of 22-9 and faced 23rd-ranked Wisconsin Stevens Point in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to the Pointers in five sets. CWRU placed third in the UAA with Farrell and her staff earning UAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Senior Jennifer Ngo became the first All-American in program history, earning First Team honors from the AVCA after receiving UAA Most Valuable Player honors. She was also named to the CSC Academic All-America First Team, marking the second consecutive season a Spartan was named an Academic All-American. Ngo was named to the All-UAA First Team and senior Alyssa Blessinger and junior Rea Marfatia earned All-UAA Second Team honors. 

The 2023 campaign followed one of the best seasons in program history in 2022 during which the team set a program record with a .786 winning percentage after finishing the season with a 22-6 record. CWRU went 4-3 in University Athletic Association round robin contests, finishing sixth at the UAA Championship. Junior Jennifer Ngo became the third Spartan to earn All-Region recognition, earning All-Region VII honorable mention honors following the season. She also became the second player in program history to be named to two All-UAA First Teams. Senior Sara Rogers earned Academic All-America Third Team honors. Junior Alyssa Blessinger, sophomore Rea Marfatia, and first-year Amanda Ngo all earned All-UAA honorable mention for CWRU.

Overall, Farrell’s program has posted 12 winning seasons and 329 victories since her return to the university in 2006, including at least 20 wins in nine seasons with a third-place finish in the UAA in 2015, the program's best finish since 1997. The 2015 squad also produced the program's first win, in its second appearance, in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. In 2010, Farrell led the Spartans to a 24-11 overall record and the school’s first-ever bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament. For their efforts, Farrell and her assistants were named the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.

Farrell initially coached the Spartans from 1995-98 and came back to Cleveland from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she served as volleyball coach (1999-2005), director of media relations (1999-2001) and assistant athletic director (2001-06).

Farrell (formerly Karen Chambers) was initially hired in 1995 as head volleyball and softball coach. She compiled an 88-69 record in four years with the volleyball squad and helped guide the Spartan volleyball team to several of the most successful seasons in program history. In 1997, CWRU compiled a 29-10 record and finished third in both the UAA and the North Coast Athletic Conference, earning coaching staff of the year honors from the UAA and NCAC. The following season, Farrell coached Case Western Reserve to a 24-16 overall mark and a second-place finish in the NCAC and garnered coaching staff of the year honors from the NCAC for the second consecutive season. In addition to her volleyball duties, Farrell started the Case Western Reserve varsity softball program in the spring of 1996. The softball team was an instant success with Farrell as head coach as she guided the Spartans to a remarkable three UAA Championships in her four years at the helm.

After the 1998 season, Farrell departed for Clark University where she was hired as the head volleyball coach and director of media relations. Farrell quickly found success with Clark and in 2000 the volleyball team ended the season ranked 15th in the New England Region with a 20-11 record. In 2001, her team was consistently ranked among the top 12 in the region and compiled an impressive 22-8 mark. Already serving as Assistant Athletic Director, Farrell stepped down from her post as head volleyball coach after the 2005 season to serve full-time as an administrator.

Farrell graduated from fellow UAA institution Brandeis University in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology/American studies. In addition to competing for the Judges for four years in softball and volleyball, Farrell also earned high academic honors. As a senior she received the athletic department’s Charlie Napoli ’58 Scholar-Athlete Award. Following her time at Brandeis, she went on to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she received her master’s degree in sports management in 1995.

In addition to her duties as head volleyball coach, Farrell currently serves as an Associate Athletic Director and as the department’s Senior Woman Administrator (SWA), Deputy Title IX Coordinator, and the Athletic Department Diversity and Inclusion Designee (ADDID).

She resides in Cleveland with her husband, Timothy, and two children. 

Farrell Highlights

• 516 career wins (through 2024 season)
• Five consecutive seasons of at least 20 victories (2008-12)
• Three-time UAA Coaching Staff of the Year (1997, 2010, 2023)
• Two-time NCAC Coach of the Year (1997, 1998)
• First NCAA Championship Tournament win in program history (2015)
• First NCAA Championship Tournament berth in program history (2010)
• First All-American in program history (Jennifer Ngo, 2023, First Team)

By the Numbers