Marlene Piper was the head volleyball coach at Willamette for eight seasons and led the Bearcats to three straight Northwest Conference titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996.  Piper earned a combined record at Willamette of 146-83 (.638) and was named NWC Coach of the Year three times.

Before coming to Willamette, Piper coached at Portland State, UC-Berkeley, and UC-Davis. In 2001, she retired with an impressive cumulative record of 815-328 (.713) in 33 years of coaching.  Piper also played on the Canadian National volleyball team and was a three-time USVBA Master’s All-American, earning MVP honors at the 1984 national tournament. 

In addition to her success in volleyball, Piper earned ASA All-America honors seven times as a fast-pitch softball player. She led her team totwo national championships.