Delice Downing was named the 13th head volleyball coach at Hutchinson Community College on July 2, 2020.

Downing is 63-38 in her first three seasons with the Blue Dragons.

Her first year had the usual ups and downs. Downing’s first Hutchinson team posted an 18-10 overall record, tied for third in the Jayhawk West and advanced to the Region VI Tournament semifinals as the season was pushed from fall 2020 to spring 2021 because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Within the body of that work, the Blue Dragons had a second-team NJCAA and AVCA All-American in outside hitter Jenna Thorne. Setter Chloe Price was an all-conference performer who also earned National NJCAA and AVCA Player of the Week honors. Kristina Head, Shelby Reeder and Shady Briggs also earned all-Jayhawk West honors.

The 2021 Blue Dragons finished 19-16 with Kristina Head earning first-team all-Jayhawk West honors and Blondie Penaflor named to the second team.

The 2022 Blue Dragons made a seven-win improvement and finished 26-12 and in fourth place in the Jayhawk West. Outside hitter Taniya Golden was named the Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Jayhawk West. Baylee Miller, Anna Dean and Penaflor were named all-league second team and Andrea Serrano was an honorable mention selection.

Now in 18 seasons as a head coach, Downing’s overall record is 495-213. Downing ranks No. 3 in all-time Jayhawk Conference volleyball coaching wins and No. 5 in Region VI Volleyball history.

Downing came to Hutchinson after a stellar 15-year coaching career at Coffeyville Community College. Originally from Atchison, Kansas, Downing is a Jayhawk Conference veteran. After playing volleyball, basketball and softball for the Red Ravens (1998-2000), Downing was hired as the Raven head volleyball coach in 2005.

Posting winning records in 14 of her 15 seasons at Coffeyville, Downing’s last five seasons at Coffeyville were played at a nationally elite level.

From 2015 to 2019, Downing’s Coffeyville teams posted a 197-22 record. Coffeyville won back-to-back NJCAA Division II national volleyball championships in 2017 and 2018 with a national third-place finish in 2019.

The 2018 national title came without losing a set in four national tournament matches, going 40-3 overall. Among the awards Downing collected in 2018 were the NJCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Coach of the Tournament, AVCA Two-Year College Midwest Region Coaches of the Year, and the Division II Volleyball 2018 Tachikara NJCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

Downing’s all-time record in 15 seasons at Coffeyville was 432-175. She is the Red Ravens’ all-time coaching wins’ leader. Downing is a three-time Jayhawk East Coach of the Year. She won four Jayhawk East and four Region VI championships with the Red Ravens. Downing’s Raven teams made eight Region VI championship match appearances.

Frances Taylor was Downing’s first NJCAA All-American at Coffeyville, which was in 2015. Taylor was also the Jayhawk East Player of the Year and Downing was named the league’s Coach of the Year during a record 33-10 season in 2015.

The Ravens continued to progress in 2016 by tying for a Jayhawk East title and a Region VI Tournament championship in posting a 38-4 record. Carolina Machado was the Jayhawk East Player of the year as well as a first-team NJCAA All-American. Daniella Santos was the league’s Freshman of the Year and second-team All-American. The Ravens went 1-3 in the 2016 NJCAA Division II National Tournament.

The 2017 season was the first of three-straight with 40 wins or more for Downing and the Ravens. Downing’s team ran the table in the Jayhawk East and repeated as Region VI champions. Coffeyville (44-2) won four matches in the national tournament. The fourth-seeded Ravens survived three five-set matches to earn a spot in the championship game. Coffeyville defeated top-seed Owens Community College in four sets to claim the program’s first national title. Adianez Reyes-Rivera earned first-team NJCAA and AVCA All-America honors and was the Jayhawk East Freshman of the Year. Daniella Santos was also a first-team NJCAA and ACVA All-American.

The 2018 season was equally impressing in going 40-3, tying for a third-straight Jayhawk East title and winning a fourth-straight Region VI championship. The drama of the 2017 national tournament wasn’t as intense as the 2018 Ravens swept four-straight tournament matches en route to a second-straight championship. Adianez Reyes-Rivera swept all the national league, region and national honors, including first-team NJCAA and AVCA All-America honors and Jayhawk East Player of the Year. Seliann Rodriguez was a first-team NJCAA and AVCA All-American and Jayhawk East Freshman of the Year. Dekyra Dennis was a first-team NJCAA and second-team NJCAA All-American.

Downing’s national tournament winning streak came to an end at 11 matches in the 2019 national tournament as Coffeyville lost in the national semifinals. Still the Red Ravens finished 42-3, won conference and regional championships and finished third place in the national tournament. Faith Simpson was the Jayhawk East Player of the Year as well as first-team NJCAA and AVCA All-American.

The Red Ravens had eight NJCAA and six AVCA All-Americans in Downing’s tenure. Downing also produced 43 first-team All-Region VI players (22 first team), 34 All-Jayhawk East players (18 first team), three Jayhawk East Players of the Year and two Jayhawk East Freshmen of the Year.

As an athlete at Coffeyville, Downing played volleyball, softball and basketball. She was Jayhawk East Volleyball Freshman in the Year in 1998 and was conference MVP in 1999. Downing earned first-team all-Jayhawk East honors in both her freshman and sophomore years. Downing was also named second-team all-conference in softball in 1999. Downing graduated from Coffeyville in May 2000.

Downing then transferred to the University of West Alabama on a volleyball scholarship and was a two-year volleyball starter. She received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award in 2002. Downing was a student assistant volleyball coach at West Alabama and was also head coach of the junior varsity volleyball team in 2002.

She graduated from West Alabama in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree. She earned her master of science in student affairs and higher education leadership from Baker University in 2023.

Downing has a daughter, Aah’lice (12), and sons Adrian (9) and Dash, who passed away in July 2015.