Gretchen Killebrew begins her second season as an assistant coach at Seattle University, working primarily with the setters. She is nationally recognized as an up-and-coming coach, having been named one of the 30 Under 30 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in February 2009.
Before coming to SeattleU, Killebrew was an assistant coach at Washington State University during the 2007 season. Before that, she served as an assistant coach at Seattle Pacific in the 2006 season, helping the Falcons to a 24-3 overall record and the GNAC title. In 2005, Killebrew was the head coach at Bellevue Community College, guiding the team to a 25-8 overall record, including an 11-1 record within the region.
Killebrew, then known as Gretchen Maurer, played for the University of Washington from 1999 to 2002, finishing with 3,190 assists, presently third all-time in Husky volleyball history. As captain of the 2002 squad, she helped the Huskies reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years, earning first team All-Pac-10 and honorable mention All-Pacific Region honors along the way. She earned her bachelor’s degree in international studies with a minor in music from Washington in 2003.
After graduation, Killebrew played professional volleyball for the team based in Maia, Portugal, where as the starting setter she helped the team win the Portuguese Cup and finish eighth at the European Cup. She also has experience as a club volleyball coach, spending one year with the Kent Junior Volleyball Club (2003) and two years with the Juanita Volleyball Club (2004-05).
Gretchen and her husband Mark welcomed Kye David Killebrew to the family on Feb. 9, 2009.