Northwestern University Athletics
Christie Landry Hired as Assistant Volleyball Coach
2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Feb. 23, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Keylor Chan has announced the hiring of Christie Landry as an assistant coach with the volleyball program. Landry, a two-time All-Big Ten selection as a student-athlete at Michigan State, joins the Wildcats after spending the last season as a volunteer assistant at Nebraska.
Landry, a native of Naperville, Ill., will work primarily with the setters, and also will have responsibility in many other aspects of the Northwestern program including recruiting.
"Working at Northwestern always has been a long term goal of mine," Landry said. "I love Chicago and I wanted to get back to the Big Ten, which I think is the best volleyball conference in the nation. Northwestern has the best combination of academics and athletics, and Chicago has some of the top volleyball talent anywhere. I am excited to bring the two together. "
Landry attended Saint Francis High School in Wheaton, Ill., where she was named the 1996 Chicago Sun Times High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade Player of the Year. While playing club volleyball, she was a Junior Olympic All-American in 1995 and 1997 and a member of the USA Volleyball gold-medal winning teams in the same years. Landry was a Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection in 1997.
A 2002 graduate of Michigan State, she played for the Spartan program from 1997 to 2000, helping the Spartans to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances during her career under legendary coach Chuck Erbe. She finished her career in third place on MSU's all-time lists in both total assists (3,761) and assists per game (9.62) despite not being a setter until her sophomore season.
In 2000, she was named team MVP after totaling 1,503 assists -- the second-highest total in school history at the time -- and leading Michigan State to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Landry began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky during the 2004 season. In her role, she primarily worked with the setters while assisting with recruiting and directing team travel.
Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, she was an assistant coach for the Sports Performance Volleyball Club. In that role, she worked with the setters and coordinated scouting and statistical analysis efforts. In 2003, her club team placed third at the USA Championships. She began her coaching career while at Michigan State, serving as the freshman coach at Haslett High School as she completed her degree.
The 6-2 Landry also has professional playing experience. She was drafted into the United States Professional League in 2002 for the St. Louis Quest. She quickly joined the Club Voleibol Sant Cugat in Barcelona, Spain, where she spent the season training and traveling throughout Europe.
Landry joined the Huskers in 2005, assisting in the training of setters and recruiting efforts. Nebraska was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament championship game.
"We are very excited for Christie to join our program," Chan said. "She has a strong knowledge of the Big Ten and her local ties and experience make her a perfect fit at Northwestern and with this program. She was a very good collegiate setter who learned the position midway through her career, and that experience will be big in training our setters.
Landry joins the Wildcats after the departure of assistant coaches Ryan Theis and Jenny Manz. The pair, who are engaged to be married in May, took assistant coaching positions in December at Manz's alma mater, Florida.
