Skip Navigation

Jennies Volleyball Camps

Coaching Staff

Caitlin PetersonCaitlin Peterson
Head Coach

Former University of Central Missouri All-American, UCM Athletic and MIAA Hall of Famer Caitlin Peterson (formerly Pankratz) was named the ninth head coach in Jennies volleyball history in Jan., 2022. 

The Jennies finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 25-8 winning their 26th MIAA Regular Season title along with the program’s fourth conference tournament title as Peterson was named the 2023 MIAA Coach of the Year. After winning 10 matches against AVCA top-25 ranked teams making the program’s 37th NCAA Tournament appearance, Central Missouri had three AVCA All-American in setter Olvia Olson who was a Second Team selection while redshirt senior Kersti Nix and middle blocker Elinor Engel received Honorable Mention nods.

In total, eight players were All-MIAA selections highlighted by 2023 Player and Setter of the Year Olivia Olson who was one of four First Team members alongside sophomore Rachel Ziesman, outside hitter Kersti Nix, and freshman Elinor Engel. Outside hitter Sydney Lierz and freshman Emma Siron were All-MIAA Second Team selections, plus, middle blocker Grace Southern and libero Grace Winkelmann received All-MIAA Honorable Mention accolades.   

In her first season as head coach of the Jens, the team went 19-11 overall and 14-6 in the MIAA highlighted by four wins against top-25 ranked opponents. Peterson’s squad fielded seven players who were named All-MIAA members featuring two First Team selections in middle blocker Grace Southern and outside hitter Kersti Nix. Sophomore Tiffany Little and redshirt freshman Jenna Schulte were named Second Team selections while outside hitter Sydney Lierz, setter Chandler Vaughan and libero Grace Winkelman earned Honorable Mention nods

Prior to being named head coach, Peterson served as the senior associate, associate, and assistant coach for the Jennies for nine seasons. She has been with the Central Missouri volleyball program for a combined 17 seasons as both a coach and a student-athlete.

During her tenure as a coach for UCM, the Jennies have captured five MIAA regular season titles, three MIAA postseason tournament championships and two NCAA Division II Regional crowns.

She has helped coach the Jennies' setters to All-MIAA honors eight times, including All-MIAA First Team and All-American setters Julia Bates (2013) and Ally Offerdahl (2021). In total, Central Missouri has had 18 All-Americans since Peterson joined the coaching staff and 28 with her as either a graduate assistant or full-time coach.

Prior to becoming a full-time assistant coach for the Jennies in 2013 under Flip Piontek, she spent the 2012 season as an assistant coach at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., where she worked under former Jennies Hall of Fame head coach Peggy Martin.

Inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 and the MIAA Hall of Fame in 2020, Peterson led her teams to a 149-39 overall record playing for Martin from 2005-08 and Piontek in 2009. She was the starting setter for four years and a team captain for two, helping the team win 81 percent of its matches. The volleyball program's 2009 conference championship was the first since 2000, but the Jennies earned a bid to every NCAA postseason tournament during her career. Peterson recorded double-figure assists in more than 35 games in each of her four seasons and collected 47 career double-doubles. She also dished out at least 30 assists in 129 matches.

In 2009, Peterson finished a five-year career for the Jennies ranked No. 2 all-time in assists with 5,502, the seventh highest career mark in MIAA history at that time. She was named an AVCA All-American and First-Team All-MIAA that year after guiding the Jens to the NCAA South Central Regional as the No. 1 seed and host of the tournament.

Peterson is still second all-time at UCM in assists and is eighth in MIAA history. 

The Buhler, Kan., native graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting from UCM in 2009, holding a 3.88 GPA. She earned her master's degree from Central Missouri in exercise science in the spring of 2012.

Peterson and her husband, Adam, reside in Warrensburg. They have a son, Jax, and daughter, Brecklyn. 

Christi LutmanChristi Lutman
Assistant Volleyball Coach

Over the past two seasons, Christi Lutman has helped the Jens to an overall record of 44-19 including an impressive 32-8 in the MIAA. As the lead hitting and blocking trainer, she has coached eight different players to All-MIAA status including four First Team selections leading the MIAA in blocks and blocks per set.

In 2023, the Jens finished the second consecutive season leading the MIAA in blocks (315) and blocks per set (2.52) as two players were named AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans and All-Region honors in Kersti Nix and Elinor Engel. Central Missouri ranked in the top three in the conference in kills, hitting percentage, and points while earning three MIAA Athlete of the Week accolades capturing the program’s 26th regular season title and fourth tournament championship.

Central Missouri finished the 2022 season leading the MIAA with 280 blocks while averaging 2.43 blocks per set and ranked in the top five in kills, hitting percentage and points. Lutman coached five All-MIAA performers including two First Team selections in Kersti Nix and Grace Southern while helping Second Team member Jenna Schulte set the program’s single-match record 15 blocks against Angelo State (Sept. 3)

Before joining the Jennies volleyball staff, Lutman spent the previous 11 years as the Performance Volleyball Academy (PVA) Club Director in Overland Park, Kan. She founded the academy in March 2010 and has served as the lead coach and trainer ever since.

On the volleyball court, Lutman was a standout middle blocker for the University of Missouri from 1999-2003. She was the Tigers' first AVCA All-American, earning third team accolades in 2002, and was a two-time All-Big 12 honoree. She still holds the Mizzou career blocks record with 454 and is third all-time in hitting percentage (.322) and fourth in kills (1,476). She was inducted into the MU Hall of Fame in 2012. Lutman also was an All-Big 12 performer for the Tigers in track and field in 2000 and 2001.

Lutman earned her bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from Mizzou in 2003.