Stephanie Niemer was promoted to assistant coach in August 2019 after spending the 2018 season as a volunteer assistant.
Niemer brings a wealth of experience to the Mountaineer court, as she spent nine seasons in the professional realm as an outside hitter.
Following the Mountaineers’ 2018 season, Niemer returned to the Philippines for the first time since 2016 to play for the Petron Blaze Spikers, where she led her squad to victory at the 2019 Philippine Super Liga (PSL) Grand Prix Championship. She also was named the team’s MVP and was voted the league’s “Best Scorer.”
Niemer’s professional career started in Puerto Rico, where she spent four seasons, before traveling to Europe to sign with France’s ASPTT Mulhouse in 2014. She then went on to play for Azerbaijan’s Azeryol Baku, making the Final Four of the 2015 CEV Women’s Challenge Cup.
In 2016, Niemer was selected to play for the Philippines’ Petron squad and was voted the league’s “Best Outside Hitter.”
After leading Puerto Rico’s Criollas de Caguas to the Puerto Rico Volleyball League Championships in 2017, Niemer went Back to Europe to sign with Greek’s powerhouse Olympiacos. While with Greece, she helped her team become Greek League Champions, winning both the 2018 Greek Cup and the 2018 CEV Women’s Challenge Cup.
Prior to traveling abroad, Niemer was a four-year letterwinner at Cincinnati from 2007-10, helping the Bearcats reach the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2008 and 2010. She also led her Bearcat team to Big East Regular Season titles her junior and senior seasons.
Niemer currently ranks first all-time with 195 service aces, second all-time with 1,976 kills and third all-time with 4.06 kills per set. She also became the first Bearcat in program history to earn Big East Player of the Year honors as a senior and was only the second player to receive Big East Rookie of the Year recognition in 2007.
A three-time All-Big East First Team selection, Niemer garnered American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Second Team honors her senior year after earning AVCA All-America Honorable Mention accolades in 2009. She also was named to the AVCA All-Northeast Region Team both seasons.
A native of Erlanger, Kentucky, Niemer earned her bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Cincinnati in 2011. She also was inducted into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
