Kim Wudi

Kim Wudi enters her 18th season as head volleyball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2024.

Under Wudi's guidance, the Blugolds have won one national championship, reached two Final Fours, participated in 11 NCAA Tournaments and captured five WIAC regular-season championships. With Wudi at the helm, the Blugolds stormed to a 35-3 record in 2021 and capped off the season with the program's first national championship. The Blugolds swept Calvin 3-0 in the national finals to bring home the trophy, ending the year with 16 consecutive victories.

A four-time WIAC Coach of the Year recipient (2010, 2018, 2021 and co-coach in 2008), Wudi currently ranks eighth on the all-time WIAC wins list with 363 and a win percentage of .699. Under Wudi, the Blugolds have tied for WIAC regular season championships in 2008, 2010, and 2011, and won the title outright in 2018 and 2021 with an undefeated conference record each year. UW-Eau Claire secured the WIAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in 2012, 2018 and 2021 by winning the WIAC postseason tournament.

The Blugolds have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 11 times in Wudi’s tenure, highlighted by a national championship in 2021. The team competed in the first round in 2007, 2011, 2019 and 2022 and advanced to the second round in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2015. The 2018 squad earned their way to the Final Four before losing in five sets to Calvin University in the semifinal match. UW-Eau Claire finished the 2018 season ranked #4 in Division III in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. In recognition of the team’s outstanding performance, the AVCA named Wudi the Midwest Region Coach of the Year and 2018 National Coach of the Year.

From 1996-1999 Wudi (then Kim Arndt) played for the Blugolds under Hall of Fame coach Lisa Herb. The team compiled a 101-40 record, and Wudi served as a two-time team co-captain. She was a three-time All-Conference pick and earned second team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 1998 and first team honors in 1999. She earned four team awards: Rookie of the Year, Hustle Award, and two-time Most Dedicated Award. She also is a two-time Blugold Super Six Award recipient, which is awarded annually to the top six student-athletes who excel on and off the court/field and classroom. Wudi graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2000 from UW-Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology education and received one of the university’s Outstanding Senior awards. She earned her Master of Education in Professional Development degree from UW-Eau Claire in 2009.

Wudi taught science and coached varsity volleyball at Durand High School from 2001-2003. She then taught at Eau Claire Memorial High School from 2003-2007, where she also served as assistant volleyball coach for two seasons. While still teaching at Memorial, Wudi returned to her alma mater and joined Lisa Herb’s staff, serving as an assistant coach from 2005-2006. The Blugolds advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in each of those seasons and shared the WIAC title in 2006.

Wudi coached for Eau Claire Air Volleyball club from 1997-2009 and directed the club from 2006-2011. She earned the USA Volleyball Service Award for Outstanding Female Coach in 2005, and in 2006 she received the USA Volleyball Robert L. Lindsey Meritorious Service Award. She served on the Badger Region Volleyball Association Board of Directors from 2012-2023 and was the Badger Region Secretary from 2017-2023.

Wudi is a member of the AVCA Division III Head Coaches Committee and has previously served on the NCAA Midwest Regional Advisory Committee. She advises the UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s volleyball clubs and has served on numerous campus committees.

Blugold Volleyball Camps and Clinics, directed by Wudi, have grown to eight different camp offerings for campers entering grades K-12. In 2023, over 1,300 campers participated in volleyball camps at UW-Eau Claire. The volleyball program also hosts tournaments for local and regional youth teams during the winter, attracting nearly 1,500 prospective students to campus each year.

Wudi resides in Eau Claire with her husband Jason and their two daughters, Layla and Sophia.