Katie (Hinrichs) Palmer was named the 14th head coach in Lewis-Clark State College Volleyball ahead of the 2023 season. She enters her third season at the helm in 2025. The Warrior alum brings 12 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience, which includes coaching at the international level with USA Volleyball.
The Warriors finished with a 15-13 record in Palmer's second season and hosted a portion of the Cascade Conference postseason tournament for the first time in program history. LC State finished 12-10 in CCC play to advance to the tournament. The team excelled in the classroom as well and earned the highest grade-point average in program history with a 3.72 in the fall of 2024, then surpassed that mark with an outstanding 3.75 in the spring to make it another record-breaking academic semester.
Juliauna Forgach Aguilar became Palmer's first All-Cascade Conference selection with a first-team nod in 2023 and continued to flourish under Palmer's guidance in 2024. The junior became Palmer's first AVCA All-American with an honorable mention nod to go with First-Team All-CCC and First-Team All-AVCA West Region honors. Forgach Aguilar, an outside hitter, shattered the program record for kills per set (4.60) and points per set (4.91) and was fourth in the NAIA in total kills (488).
Natany Felix Guimaraes, one of Palmer's first recruits, also had a standout season in 2024. The senior libero was just 18 digs shy of the single-season record, held by Palmer, with 543. The mark ranks fifth in program history and her 5.07 per set during the season ranks second. She was voted the CC Defender of the Week once in the season.
Palmer and her staff’s recruiting continues to elevate the program, and the addition of standout freshman Taylor Boyce was no exception. The outside hitter finished her first collegiate season second on the team and 10th in the Cascade Conference in kills per set (2.96) and second on the team in total kills (222). She was one of two freshman to earn All-Cascade Conference honors and was an honorable mention selection.
Team Records Set in 2024
Single Match
T6. Digs ... 113 (5 sets) vs. Hastings (Neb.) (8/17/24)
T8. Total blocks ... 16 (4 sets) vs. Southern Oregon (9/21/24)
10. Hitting percentage ... .430 vs. Warner Pacifc (10/26/24)
Single Season
5. Digs per set ... 17.00
8. Block assists ... 352
Palmer was a standout libero and helped the Warriors to a 112-24 overall record during her career. LC State won four regular-season and postseason Frontier Conference titles and advanced to the NAIA national tournament all four years. Palmer etched her name in the LC State record books in multiple categories including the single-game dig leader (41), single-season dig leader (561), and finished her career second in program history in career digs (1,585).
Most recently in her coaching career, Palmer served as an assistant coach at Gonzaga for three seasons. She was hired by the Zags in 2019 and her primary responsibilities included recruiting coordination, first contact development, and team defense. During her time in Spokane, she trained and developed seven Bulldogs to WCC all-conference honors. The incoming 2023 class was named by PrepVolleyball.com as on the cusp of a top-30 recruiting class in the nation and included the No. 71 recruit in the country.
In her two seasons at Montana State, Palmer helped the Bobcats to their first back-to-back double-figure win seasons since 2004-05 and their first bid to the Big Sky Conference tournament since 2012. Palmer oversaw the development of freshman middle blocker Kelsie White, who broke the program record for single-match blocks (14). The team made program history with three Bobcats tabbed as All-Big Sky Conference players in a single season. As associate head coach in her final season, Palmer oversaw all recruiting efforts which led to the program's first Under Armour All-American and the future Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
Prior to her time at Montana State, Palmer, a native of Pullman, Wash., was part of the Washington State volleyball staff with former Warrior coaches, Jen and Burdette Greeny. At WSU, she was responsible for all team travel, video and statistical analysis, professional development, community service and summer camps. In her final season, the team returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years making it to the second round.
| Season |
W-L
Overall |
W-L
Conference |
Conference
Regular-Season |
Conference
Tournament |
NAIA Ranking |
| 2023 |
10-18 |
9-13 |
Eighth |
First Round |
N/A |
| 2024 |
15-13 |
12-10 |
Sixth |
Play-In |
N/A |
| Total |
25-31 (.446) |
21-23 (.477) |
|
|
|
* = Regular-Season Conference Champions
^ = Conference Tournament Champions
