Bio

Amanda Schultze just completed her 13th season at Northeast as Head Volleyball Coach.

In 2025, the Hawks were dominant in conference play as they recorded a record of 9-3 throughout the ICCAC portion of the schedule and hosted a match in the Region 11-A Semifinals. Rowan O’Keefe was named ICCAC Athlete of the Week for the week of September 29, 2025, as she recorded 29 blocks and 41 kills in three victories throughout the week. Four student-athletes for Northeast received postseason accolades as O’Keefe was named First Team All-Region, Alli Brown was named Second Team All-Region, Katie Borg was named Third Team All-Region and McKenna Jones was named Honorable Mention All-Region. Izabel Hollatz was named to the Region 11-A All-Tournament Team after recording 27 assists and 17 digs against Southeastern Community College. The team also led all of Northeast Athletics with a team GPA of 3.63 in the fall.

The Hawks were strong in 2024 as they ended up just one game short of the national tournament after defeating Ellsworth Community College at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk in the Region 11 Tournament Quarterfinals and No. 7 Iowa Central Community College in the Region 11 Tournament Semifinals. Northeast finished the campaign with a record of 26-15 and 8-3 in conference play. Shaylyn Safranek was named ICCAC Athlete of the Week for her performance the week of August 26, 2024, Katy Jones was named ICCAC Athlete of the Week the week of September 9, 2024 and Avery Couch was also named ICCAC Athlete of the Week during the week of September 30, 2024. Mya Hedstrom and Safranek were named First Team All-Region, Alex Arenas was named Second Team All-Region, Couch was named Third Team All-Region and Kaidence Wilson was named Honorable Mention All-Region. Hedstrom and Safranek were both named to the Region 11 All-Tournament Team. Couch signed with NAIA Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska to continue her academic and athletic career.

Northeast finished with a record of 20-15 in 2023 as Sydney Redden was named Second Team All-Region while Alex Arenas and Kiara Krusemark were named Third Team All-Region. Krusemark and Redden were both named to the Academic All-District Team for their combined performances on the volleyball court and in the classroom. To be nominated, student-athletes were required to be a sophomore academically and athletically, have a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative GPA and were required to compete in 90% of their team's total games played or must have started in 66% of their team's total games. Cadence Kramer was named the recipient of the Northeast Athletics Female Character Award at the conclusion of the athletic year as voted on by Northeast coaches and staff.

The Hawks rolled out a team built of entirely freshmen in 2022 to great success as freshman Karley Heimes finished second in the nation in kills per set with 5.02 and third in the nation in kills with 622. For her strong campaign, Heimes was named NJCAA DII Second Team All-American and was the first All-American for the volleyball program since Josie Sanger in 2019. Heimes was named ICCAC Athlete of the Week twice while Sydney Redden earned the honor once. Heimes was named First Team All-Conference, Redden was named Second Team All-Conference and Kiara Krusemark was named Third Team-All-Conference. Heimes was also named to the Region 11-B All Tournament Team.

In 2021, the Hawks had a rebuilding year as they finished with a 10-22 record. Elizabeth Christensen was named Second Team All-Conference while Alexis Kapales and Danielle Wadsworth were named Honorable Mention All-Conference. Christensen was also named Second Team All-Region XI-B. Brooke Bannister, Rachel Ecklund, Makayla Forsberg, Bailey Lemburg, Emily Rasmussen, Edyn Sudbeck were all named to the NJCAA All-Academic First Team while Lauren Kavan was named to the Second Team.

The 2020-21 season was a growing year for the Northeast Community College volleyball team. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hawks managed a 7-16 record and a semifinal appearance in the Region XI tournament. Carly Hirsch earned Second Team All-Conference honors, while Jamie Bonifas and Elizabeth Christensen were named Honorable Mention All-Conference. Hirsch also was named First Team All-Region and Bonifas garnered Second Team All-Region accolades.

The Hawks made their fourth-straight appearance at the NJCAA DII National Volleyball Tournament in 2019, finishing with a 22-18 record and another Region XI crown after defeating North Iowa Area Community College in five sets. Schultze coached the first-ever NJCAA All-American in program history after Josie Sanger had a stellar freshman year, breaking the all-time digs records in a season with 829. She finished fourth at the DII level for most digs and ninth in digs per set with 5.87. Sanger earned First Team All-Region honors, while being named to the Region XI All-Tournament team. She was also MVP of the Region XI Tournament. Elley Beaver was named to the First Team All-Region team, while Hannah Heppner and Brianna Bauer earned Second Team All-Region honors. Heppner was also named to the Second Team All-Conference team and the Region XI All-Tournament team. Bauer, along with MaKayla Davidson were named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference team, while Davidson earned Region XI All-Tournament team accolades. Caitlin Kumm, Davidson, Bauer, Heppner, Beaver and Sanger were honored after being named to the First Team Omaha World-Herald All-Nebraska College Volleyball team in December.

The 2018 season marked another successful year for Schultze, after guiding the Hawks to their third-straight national tournament appearance in Charleston, West Virginia. The Hawks finished 21-15 and seventh at the national tournament at the NJCAA DII level. Northeast was also crowned Region XI-B champions, while two sophomores, Kalli Brester and Savannah Nelson and freshman Hannah Heppner were named First Team All-Region XI-B. Brester earned CoSIDA All-American status, the first in program history. Nelson was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the national tournament and First Team All-Conference. Schultze also coached two Second Team All-Region XI-B members, two Second Team All-Conference selections, and two Honorable Mention All-Conference honorees. For her efforts, Schultze was named District 'C' Coach of the Year.

In her fifth season at Northeast, Coach Schultze led the Hawks to a 19-17 record in 2017. As the No. 4 seed in the Region XI-A Volleyball Tournament, her team defeated the No. 1 seed to earn a return trip to the NJCAA DII National Tournament. In addition, Coach Schultze’s team earned the 2017-2018 American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award. Monique Schafer was named First Team All-Conference and Macy Stewart earned Second Team. Two other Hawks were selected to the Honorable Mention All-Conference list. Both Schafer, Stewart and Savannah Nelson were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Her 2016 team went 27-13 on the year, finished second in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC), won the Region XI-B Tournament and earned its first trip to the NJCAA DII National Volleyball Tournament in West Virginia since the volleyball program was reinstated in 2013. Three Hawks earned First Team All-Region, while two were named Second Team All-Region. Mackenzie Wecker and Courtni Kunz were recognized as First Team All-Conference selections, while Kelsey Shoemaker was Second Team All-Conference.

In her third season, the Hawks went 17-17 and finished fourth in the ICCAC. The Hawks made it to the regional final and fell short to Des Moines Area Community College. Meagan Backer and Taryn Luedtke earned Second Team All-Region honors, while Backer was named First Team All-Conference. Luedtke was named Second Team All-Conference, while Shoemaker earned Honorable Mention All-Conference.

In her second season, the Hawks went 16-16 and made it to the Region XI-B final where they were upset in four sets. The Hawks finished third in the ICCAC, while two Hawks earned First Team All-Region recognition and three earned Second Team All-Region.

Schultze coached the Hawks to a 15-21 record in her first season. They made it to the regional tournament and finished seventh in the ICCAC. Nazya Thies was the first-ever volleyball player under Schultze to earn First Team All-Region status. Brittany Sullivan was named Second Team All-Region and Thies was a Second Team All-Conference selection. Sullivan also earned All-Conference Honorable Mention.

Originally from Wakefield, Nebraska, Schultze attended Central Community College in Columbus for two years, where she received an associate degree. She earned Athletic and Academic All-American honors as a setter with the Raiders and held both the season assist and career assists records with 1,794 and 3,288 for 10 and 11 years, respectively.

Schultze then transferred to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where she played libero for the Mustangs and helped them earn two trips to the NAIA National Tournament. Schultze earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Morningside and obtained her master’s degree in organizational management with an emphasis in sport management from Wayne State College. She was a graduate assistant volleyball coach for the Wildcats, a nationally recognized volleyball program in Wayne, Nebraska. Schultze helped WSC to three-straight NCAA Regional appearances and a 71-22 record from 2010-2012.

Schultze and her husband, Mitchell, have three children: Dawson, Remi and Gianna.