UPDATE: Conner will be the head coach at Riverside High School.

KEARNEY, Neb. — A Central Nebraska coaching legend is stepping down after recording more than 750 wins.

Kris Conner announced Tuesday that she won’t be the Kearney Catholic volleyball coach in 2024. Conner started coaching the Stars in 1991 and guided her team to four state championships, three runner-up finishes and 19 state appearances. Including her three seasons coaching at Fort Calhoun, Conner coached for 35 years and compiled a 753-241 record.

Conner says her favorite statistic about her head coaching career is how many girls she helped get to the college level. 31 of her former players earned scholarships to play college volleyball. The first of those players was Amy Johnson, who has worked as Conner’s assistant coach since 1999.

Conner steps down as the second-winningest active volleyball coach in Nebraska, behind Sue Wewel at Archbishop Bergan. Her resignation comes in the same offseason as Sharon Zavala, who retired from Grand Island Central Catholic as the winningest head coach in Nebraska high school sports history.

Conner picked up several accolades over the course of her career. She played in the first Nebraska All-Star Volleyball game in 1984, was twice named the Nebraska Coaches Association All-Star Volleyball Coach and earned the 2015 NCA Phyllis Rice-Honnor Volleyball Award.

Conner leaves Kearney Catholic volleyball with the program among the best in the state. The Stars have made the state tournament four seasons in a row and lost a five-set match to finish as state runners up in 2023.