Volleyball
Gawlik, Mike
Mike Gawlik
- Title:
- Head Coach
- E-Mail Address:
- mike.gawlik@cmich.edu
- Phone:
- (517) 281-3923
- Year at CMU:
- 9th
- Alma Mater/Year:
- Pacific/2005
Mike Gawlik enters his ninth season at the helm of Central Michigan Volleyball for the 2024 season. Gawlik has put the program on a firm foundation and orchestrated a steady rebuild that has established the Chippewas as a perennial contender in the Mid-American Conference each season.
The apex of Gawlik’s tenure in Mount Pleasant culminated during the 2019 campaign in which he was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
That well-deserved honor followed a magnificent season that saw the Chippewas finish 21-9, earn a share of the MAC West title, and advance to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The division crown was CMU’s first since 2003.
The NIVC berth marked CMU’s first postseason appearance since 2011 and the 21 victories were the most for the program since 2007.
Gawlik became the second CMU volleyball coach, and the first in 11 years, to claim the league coach of the year honor.
Central Michigan was an AVCA Top 100 team at the conclusion of the 2024 season, one of just four MAC schools named to the list for the season. The Top 100 teams are determined by listed most often in the top 100 KPI, Pablo and Massey rankings.
The 2023 season brought an even .500 year for Gawlik with the team ending 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the MAC. Claire Ammeraal earned Second Team All-MAC honors and recorded two triple-doubles on the year – making her career total five with the Chippewas.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year, the team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Academic Award for the third consecutive season. The team posted a 3.60 GPA throughout the school year, had 22 student-athletes with a 3.5 or higher semester GPA and eight student-athletes earned 4.0’s throughout the year.
The 2022 season was another successful year for Gawlik leading the Chippewas to a 20-12 record, finishing 12-6 in the MAC. CMU earned a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament entering as the No. 2 seed, after finishing in second place at the conclusion of the regular season.
The Chippewas played in the NIVC Tournament at the conclusion of the 2022 season where they ultimately fell to Xavier in Athens, Ohio.
Mallory Hernandez & Claire Ammerall earned First Team All-MAC honors under Gawlik, while Aly Gurtiza earned Second Team All-MAC. Ammeraal and Natalia Rejment were named to the All-Freshman team as well.
The 2021 season brought a fifth-place finish in the MAC for Gawlik and his squad. Three players earned post season awards from the conference. Savannah Thompson earned first team honors for the second straight season; Lisabeth Rosairo-Martinez was named second team.
Freshman libero Aly Gurtiza earned a spot on the all-freshman team after being guided by Gawlik, a former libero himself. In the 2021 season, Gurtiza dug 534 balls, which is good for 7th place in program history for a single season. Gurtiza’s 5.34 digs/set that season land her in second place in the category. In that season, the freshman led the conference in total digs with 57 more than the second-place holder.
During an abbreviated 2020 season, where the Chippewas played a 22-game conference-only schedule, CMU finished 11-11 tying them for second place in the MAC West Division.
Senior Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez was named First Team All-MAC for the second-straight season and junior captain Savannah Thompson earned First Team honors for the first time in her career.
After a 7-21 (4-12 MAC) season in 2018, Gawlik found the next gear with the 2019 squad and led them to a 21-9 record and an 11-5 record in the MAC, where his squad finished in a tie for first place in the MAC West and earned Gawlik the MAC Coach of the Year award.
The season included a 12-game winning streak from September 14th through October 18th with the loss coming in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Two players in Kalina Smith and Lisabeth Rosario-Martinez earned First Team All-MAC honors in the 2019 season.
Gawlik’s 2017 squad finished 15-14, 7-9 in the MAC, and earned a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2012. It also marked the first time CMU has finished over .500 since 2012, and its third-place finish in the MAC West was its best since 2009.
The Chippewas won five of their final seven regular-season matches. That five-match win streak tied for the program’s longest since 2012.
That season, Gawlik guided a team led by senior Jordan Bueter, one of the top players in program history. The two-time First Team All-MAC selection finished as CMU’s career leader in aces (160) and with 1,469 kills, good for third best in program history.
Central Michigan returned to the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the first time in seven years, where they finished third in the tournament and in the regular season.
Gawlik charted a course for success immediately upon being named to head the program in January 2016. Senior libero Meg Kern was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for the second time in her career, becoming the first Chippewa to accomplish that feat.
He led the Chippewas to an 11-17 finish in his rookie season after which his 2017 recruiting class received an honorable mention from one the game’s authoritative websites, prepvolleyball.com. CMU was one of 72 programs to receive honorable mention after a ranking of the top 30. NCAA Division I volleyball comprises 334 programs.
In his tenure, Gawlik has coached 51 Academic-All MAC selections, two CSC Academic All-District honorees, and had five teams earn the AVCA Award, which requires a year-long team GPA above a 3.50.
Through his nine seasons with the Chippewas, there have been 17 All-MAC selections earning four spots on the all-freshman team. 51 Academic All-MAC selections have shown the programs dedication to success on the court and in the classroom.
Gawlik came to CMU after serving for 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State, helping lead the Spartans to nine NCAA Tournament appearances including three trips to the Sweet 16.
Gawlik's primary responsibility at MSU was coaching the defensive specialists, serving as the defensive coordinator, and working with the blockers. He also served as the program's recruiting coordinator, prepared scouting reports as well as comprehensive analysis of MSU players.
In 2010, Gawlik was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) “Thirty Under 30” list, which annually honors up-and-coming coaches who are under age 30. He was part of an MSU staff that landed top-10 recruiting classes in 2008, 2013 and 2014, and he served as the liaison between the AVCA and the assistant coaches throughout the Big Ten Conference.
Under Gawlik’s tutelage, libero Kori Moster developed into one of the top players in MSU history, twice earning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award and three times earning All-America honors.
In 2013, Gawlik coached with the USA Senior Women's A2 program in Dallas, which provided him an opportunity to work with some of the top talent in the United States.
Gawlik was a four-year starter at setter and libero at Pacific, graduating in 2005 as the program’s record holder in games played (382) and digs (849). He was a two-year captain, an All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selection, was named a Strength and Conditioning All-American in 2005, and earned the Student of the Year Award in 2005 for sports science majors.
Gawlik earned a master's degree in athletic administration from MSU in 2011. He and his wife Katie have a 6-year-old daughter, Wynn.
The apex of Gawlik’s tenure in Mount Pleasant culminated during the 2019 campaign in which he was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
That well-deserved honor followed a magnificent season that saw the Chippewas finish 21-9, earn a share of the MAC West title, and advance to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The division crown was CMU’s first since 2003.
The NIVC berth marked CMU’s first postseason appearance since 2011 and the 21 victories were the most for the program since 2007.
Gawlik became the second CMU volleyball coach, and the first in 11 years, to claim the league coach of the year honor.
Central Michigan was an AVCA Top 100 team at the conclusion of the 2024 season, one of just four MAC schools named to the list for the season. The Top 100 teams are determined by listed most often in the top 100 KPI, Pablo and Massey rankings.
The 2023 season brought an even .500 year for Gawlik with the team ending 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the MAC. Claire Ammeraal earned Second Team All-MAC honors and recorded two triple-doubles on the year – making her career total five with the Chippewas.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year, the team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Academic Award for the third consecutive season. The team posted a 3.60 GPA throughout the school year, had 22 student-athletes with a 3.5 or higher semester GPA and eight student-athletes earned 4.0’s throughout the year.
The 2022 season was another successful year for Gawlik leading the Chippewas to a 20-12 record, finishing 12-6 in the MAC. CMU earned a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament entering as the No. 2 seed, after finishing in second place at the conclusion of the regular season.
The Chippewas played in the NIVC Tournament at the conclusion of the 2022 season where they ultimately fell to Xavier in Athens, Ohio.
Mallory Hernandez & Claire Ammerall earned First Team All-MAC honors under Gawlik, while Aly Gurtiza earned Second Team All-MAC. Ammeraal and Natalia Rejment were named to the All-Freshman team as well.
The 2021 season brought a fifth-place finish in the MAC for Gawlik and his squad. Three players earned post season awards from the conference. Savannah Thompson earned first team honors for the second straight season; Lisabeth Rosairo-Martinez was named second team.
Freshman libero Aly Gurtiza earned a spot on the all-freshman team after being guided by Gawlik, a former libero himself. In the 2021 season, Gurtiza dug 534 balls, which is good for 7th place in program history for a single season. Gurtiza’s 5.34 digs/set that season land her in second place in the category. In that season, the freshman led the conference in total digs with 57 more than the second-place holder.
During an abbreviated 2020 season, where the Chippewas played a 22-game conference-only schedule, CMU finished 11-11 tying them for second place in the MAC West Division.
Senior Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez was named First Team All-MAC for the second-straight season and junior captain Savannah Thompson earned First Team honors for the first time in her career.
After a 7-21 (4-12 MAC) season in 2018, Gawlik found the next gear with the 2019 squad and led them to a 21-9 record and an 11-5 record in the MAC, where his squad finished in a tie for first place in the MAC West and earned Gawlik the MAC Coach of the Year award.
The season included a 12-game winning streak from September 14th through October 18th with the loss coming in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Two players in Kalina Smith and Lisabeth Rosario-Martinez earned First Team All-MAC honors in the 2019 season.
Gawlik’s 2017 squad finished 15-14, 7-9 in the MAC, and earned a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2012. It also marked the first time CMU has finished over .500 since 2012, and its third-place finish in the MAC West was its best since 2009.
The Chippewas won five of their final seven regular-season matches. That five-match win streak tied for the program’s longest since 2012.
That season, Gawlik guided a team led by senior Jordan Bueter, one of the top players in program history. The two-time First Team All-MAC selection finished as CMU’s career leader in aces (160) and with 1,469 kills, good for third best in program history.
Central Michigan returned to the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the first time in seven years, where they finished third in the tournament and in the regular season.
Gawlik charted a course for success immediately upon being named to head the program in January 2016. Senior libero Meg Kern was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for the second time in her career, becoming the first Chippewa to accomplish that feat.
He led the Chippewas to an 11-17 finish in his rookie season after which his 2017 recruiting class received an honorable mention from one the game’s authoritative websites, prepvolleyball.com. CMU was one of 72 programs to receive honorable mention after a ranking of the top 30. NCAA Division I volleyball comprises 334 programs.
In his tenure, Gawlik has coached 51 Academic-All MAC selections, two CSC Academic All-District honorees, and had five teams earn the AVCA Award, which requires a year-long team GPA above a 3.50.
Through his nine seasons with the Chippewas, there have been 17 All-MAC selections earning four spots on the all-freshman team. 51 Academic All-MAC selections have shown the programs dedication to success on the court and in the classroom.
Gawlik came to CMU after serving for 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State, helping lead the Spartans to nine NCAA Tournament appearances including three trips to the Sweet 16.
Gawlik's primary responsibility at MSU was coaching the defensive specialists, serving as the defensive coordinator, and working with the blockers. He also served as the program's recruiting coordinator, prepared scouting reports as well as comprehensive analysis of MSU players.
In 2010, Gawlik was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) “Thirty Under 30” list, which annually honors up-and-coming coaches who are under age 30. He was part of an MSU staff that landed top-10 recruiting classes in 2008, 2013 and 2014, and he served as the liaison between the AVCA and the assistant coaches throughout the Big Ten Conference.
Under Gawlik’s tutelage, libero Kori Moster developed into one of the top players in MSU history, twice earning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award and three times earning All-America honors.
In 2013, Gawlik coached with the USA Senior Women's A2 program in Dallas, which provided him an opportunity to work with some of the top talent in the United States.
Gawlik was a four-year starter at setter and libero at Pacific, graduating in 2005 as the program’s record holder in games played (382) and digs (849). He was a two-year captain, an All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selection, was named a Strength and Conditioning All-American in 2005, and earned the Student of the Year Award in 2005 for sports science majors.
Gawlik earned a master's degree in athletic administration from MSU in 2011. He and his wife Katie have a 6-year-old daughter, Wynn.
Interview With Adam Jaksa and Arielle Wilson
Tuesday, August 26
BTS Volleyball Media Day
Thursday, August 07
Volleyball Passing Out Donuts
Thursday, April 10
Volleyball Sign Question
Tuesday, February 11
