• What They're Saying About Rick Mischka

Park University named Rick Mischka head men's and women's volleyball coach.

PARKVILLE, Mo. – Park University has named Rick Mischka to lead its men’s and women’s volleyball programs, making Mischka the fifth head coach in the history of the Park men’s volleyball program and the sixth head coach in Pirate women’s volleyball history.

Mischka has assumed his duties as head coach of both programs, effective today (Wednesday, May 13).

“Rick is an outstanding recruiter and has the energy and enthusiasm that it will take to run two successful programs on the high level we expect at Park University,” said Director of Athletics Claude English. “He possesses all the tools to get the job done on this campus, and it starts with his ability to bring in the kind of quality student-athletes who can make a difference both on and off the court for our volleyball programs.”

Mischka comes to Park from Kansas Wesleyan University, where last season, he coached the Coyotes to a semifinal appearance in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament and five wins in the team’s last nine matches of the 2008 campaign.

He also coached one first-team All-KCAC performer, as well as one Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete in 2008.

“Rick will run disciplined programs, but at the same time, our student-athletes will get the most out of their experience at Park University because of his energy and character, which are both outstanding,” English said. “We are very excited to have someone of his caliber on our staff.”

Before Kansas Wesleyan, Mischka was an assistant coach at NCAA Division-III Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minn., where he was responsible for all aspects of the program, and was a major part of the recruiting process. In his two-plus seasons at SMU, the Cardinals rebounded from a 10-19 record in 2006 to a 17-12 overall mark in 2007.

Mischka has also been strongly involved in the USA Volleyball Junior Olympic program for the last five years, spending the past two with the Southern Minnesota Volleyball program. During those two years, he has served as head coach of the 17-elite team that finished the 2007 season 35-22 and was 34th out of 64 teams at the AAU Nationals in Orlando, Fla.

“This is my dream job,” Mischka said. “I have wanted to be a dual head coach since graduating from college, and Park is an elite program within the NAIA. Park has the resources to be a nationally recognized program on both sides – men and women – so this is a very exciting move for my career.”

Before Saint Mary’s, Mischka was an assistant coach at Graceland University, where he worked with both the men’s and women’s programs for two seasons.

Mischka played three years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he was co-captain, player-coach and team treasurer for the Pointers’ NIRSA collegiate club team. While at UWSP, he received NIRSA Club National Championships All-National Team honors as a setter.

Mischka then transferred to Graceland where he played for two seasons as setter and right side hitter for the Yellow Jackets before graduating in 2006 with a double-major in Philosophy and Religion. He is currently pursuing his Master of Arts in Human Development at Saint Mary’s.

He is also a certified firefighter, and holds a valid Emergency Medical Technician license, obtained through the Wisconsin Technical College system.

For more information on Park University men’s and women’s volleyball, please visit www.parkathletics.com and to contact Mischka or other athletics and university officials, please contact sports information director Steve Wilson at (816) 584-6490 or by email, swilson@park.edu.