After Donna Tavener helped establish a volleyball program and tennis program for Women at East Texas State, the University saw that the success both programs had won was worth the investment in trying to hire some new coaches. They did that in 1983 when they hired Kathy Goodlett.

Goodlett was a young, smart, and intense teacher of the game of volleyball and knew that she could use the foundation that her predecessor had built upon and use the creation of the Lone Star Conference’s sponsorship of Volleyball as a chance for the Lions to improve on their best season that had happened just 3 years earlier with a national runner up finish.

From Goodlett’s first season in 1983 until 1985, she notched a 92-54 record overall and a 14-8 record in LSC play. (The first season did not have a formal LSC schedule, and therefore, no official LSC conference games) ETSU was clearly among the top units in the conference that was emerging as a new conference that would be powerful and filled with tough teams. 3 seasons in, and the 1986 Lions were primed to make history.

The 1986 Lion Volleyball team got to hang just their second banner in program history by first defeating Eastern New Mexico to win the Lone Star Conference Championship. It put The Lions on the map with a 22-2. The first was win in the tournament championships, and then the regular season, sending the Lion Volleyball team back to the national postseason for the first time as NCAA members, where they finished as national quarterfinalists.

Goodlett was named LSC Coach of The Year, and a star was being born in the realm of LSC Volleyball in Paulette Pilcik. She was named first team all conference, conference tournament MVP, and second team All-American. Pilick would show herself to become one of those “once in a generation players” for the Lion program.

She was joined on the award list with Angie Neylon (First Team LSC), Teresa McLain (Second Team LSC), Alice Fortes, (Second Team LSC), Stacy Harris (Second Team), and Angie Buantello (Hon Mention). It was a banner year for the Lions, or a better yet, a year of banners for this program that was just about to become a dominant power in the Lone Star Conference.

1986 East Texas State Volleyball

Lone Star Conference Regular Season Champions

Lone Star Conference Tournament Champions

NCAA Division II National Quarterfinalists