Amber Needham starts her sixth season as the UW-La Crosse head volleyball coach in 2022. She has led the Eagles to a 74-45 (.622) overall and 17-11 (.607) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) record in four playing years. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
In her first year, Needham was named the 2017 WIAC Coach of the Year after leading UWL to a 22-7 overall and 7-0 mark in the WIAC, earning its 12th regular-season title in school history. The Eagles captured the 2017 WIAC Tournament Championship with a 3-0 victory over UW-Whitewater and earned an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. It was the team's second league tournament title in school history, also winning in 2003.
Making its 15th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championships, UWL advanced to the 2017 NCAA Division III Regional Semifinals. The Eagles received votes in the final 2017 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll.
Amber Needham has compiled a 74-45 record as UWL's head coach.
Three players earned All-WIAC honors under Needham in 2017, including
Madison Entinger,
Stephanie Henk, and
Marisa Johnson. Henk was named the WIAC Offensive Player of the Year and selected the WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete.
UWL finished 16-13 overall and 4-3 in the WIAC in 2018 as Johnson and
Emma Lawrence earned all-conference honors.
Julia Van Fleet was selected to the 2018 All-WIAC Defensive Team.
Needham earned the 2018 AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award, created in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport.
The Eagles were 16-14 overall and 2-5 in the WIAC in 2019 with Lawrence and
Abbey Fox being named to the all-conference team. UWL finished 20-11 overall and 4-3 in the conference in 2021 as Lawrence earned All-WIAC First Team honors and Anna Rossner was selected to the honorable mention squad. Lawrence was also voted to the 2021 AVCA All-America Second Team, the ninth player in school history to earn AVCA All-America First or Second Team accolades.
Prior to coming to UWL, Needham served as head volleyball coach at The State University of New York at Geneseo for two seasons from 2015-16. She led SUNY Geneseo to a 17-15 overall record in 2016, qualifying for the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament for the first time since 2011. The Knights, 5-4 in conference play, were the tournament's fifth-seed and defeated fourth-seeded SUNY Fredonia in the quarterfinals before dropping its semifinal match to top-seeded and eventual tournament champion SUNY Brockport. SUNY Geneseo advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time 2010.
A pair of freshmen were named to the 2016 All-SUNYAC Team under Needham's tutelage. She helped lead the Knights to a 16-18 overall record in her first season as head coach in 2015. Needham developed the first summer volleyball camp program at SUNY Geneseo, offering ways to improve the level of volleyball to youth student-athletes.
Prior to arriving at SUNY Geneseo, Needham served as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 2012-14. The Pointers won three WIAC regular-season titles all three years and two league tournament titles (2013, 2014). UW-Stevens Point advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships all three seasons, including trips to the national semifinals in 2013 and 2014.
The Pointers went 97-18 overall (.843) in Needham's three seasons as an assistant coach, including 29-8 in 2012, 35-5 in 2013 and 33-5 in 2014. UW-Stevens Point had a 21-match winning streak in 2014, advancing to the NCAA III Semifinals. The team finished fourth in the final AVCA Top-25 Poll in 2014.
UW-Stevens Point went 35-5 in 2013, recording the program's most wins in 18 seasons. The Pointers won their first-ever WIAC Tournament crown in 2013 and went to the NCAA III Semifinals. UW-Stevens Point went 21-3 (.875) in WIAC play from 2012-14.
A native of Hancock, Wisconsin, Needham earned her bachelor's degree from Viterbo University (Wis.) and her master's degree from UW-Stevens Point. She was a four-year member of the Viterbo (Wis.) volleyball team from 2007-11, including three-year starter. A defensive specialist, Needham served as team captain her senior season in 2010 and was a two-time member of the All-Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) Academic Team (2009, 2010). The V-Hawks finished 38-5 in 2010, winning the MCC title and finishing 27th in the final National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I Poll.
Needham was an assistant coach for Viterbo (Wis.) in 2011 as the V-Hawks finished 36-8 and finished 24th in the final national rankings of the season. Leading the junior varsity team to a 17-4 record in 2011, Needham spent five seasons (2007-12) coaching the V-Hawk Power Club Team.
