Kathy Bresnahan

IOWA CITY — Kathy Bresnahan has been named the national high school volleyball coach of the year by prepvolleyball.com.

Bresnahan led Iowa City West to back-to-back Class 4A state championships in 2010 and 2011.

The most recent journey was a bittersweet one.

Starting setter Caroline Found was killed in a moped accident Aug. 11, then the Women of Troy rebounded from a slow start to finish 39-6. West outlasted Iowa City High in five sets to claim the championship.

“It wasn’t a typical year,” Bresnahan said. “About mid-September, we decided it was time to get going. Not to move on; you’re not going to move on from something like that.

“But we realized that nobody was going to throw us a pity party, and nobody was going to take it easy on us.”

Bresnahan is 537-159 in 20 years at West.