Ask Carolyn Condit about some of her favorite memories over 39 years (and counting) as the head coach of Miami Volleyball, and one theme rises to the surface over and over again.
 
Fight.
 
"I will remember how hard young women fought to be their best, especially those teams that had special challenges against them," Condit said.
 
It's an interesting word and concept for the winningest coach in Miami Athletics history to highlight. For someone who has racked up 675 victories with the program, the obvious answers that might jump to mind are the many championships, tournament titles, and trophies her teams have earned. But what Condit has appreciated most is the process of seeing her student-athletes consistently battle to improve and overcome the odds.
 
Perhaps none of Condit's 39 seasons at Miami illustrate that concept quite as well as the 2020-21 campaign, a COVID-affected season that didn't start until January of 2021.
 
"That was a really emotional time," said Condit. "After we got through the season that had to be in the winter, I had a whole new appreciation for what those players went through. There's no way we should have made the final four in the MAC. It should not have happened. But the leadership on that team, and those athletes willing to fight through things, was just the coolest thing I've ever seen. The fight they had was so fun and so amazing.
 
"When I think about those moments, it was such a great example of how strong women can be and how much they want it."
 
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Condit has always 'wanted it.' The veteran coach has spent most of her life pursuing opportunities for herself and other women to compete in sports at the highest levels. Of course, that looks very different in 2022 (a half century after Title IX legislation was passed) than it did when Condit was growing up as one of 11 children in her family home on the east side of Cincinnati.
 
"We had the house everybody liked to come to," Condit smiled. "There were mostly boys in my neighborhood, and I was blessed with some athletic ability. I think most, kids figure out that they can throw a ball by the time they're five or six years old. My dad was the one tossing with me. He said, 'Throw that again! Can you throw it further?' I remember being a little kid and it went forever; it's funny how little things give you confidence, you know?
 
"I was always fun and people-oriented and enjoyed competing in anything, but in those days, you couldn't play with the boys on a real team with a uniform like they can now," said Condit. "I was fortunate enough to go to a Catholic school, so we started in fifth or sixth grade playing volleyball and basketball and softball with girls, but nothing real great – no opportunities like they have today."
 
Condit went on to be a successful basketball and volleyball player at Marian High School, competing in the Girls Greater Catholic League. "I'm not very tall, but I definitely had coordination. I could move!", Condit chuckled. She eventually would play both sports for four years in college at Mount St. Joseph's, as well as running track for one year. "College was where I really enjoyed athletics the most, because it was so competitive and there were other really talented girls," said Condit.
 
She also enjoyed playing softball every summer in her free time. "Slow pitch softball," Condit pointed out. "Fast pitch hadn't arrived: We didn't even know what that was!"
 
During Condit's time at the Mount, she saw women's athletics continuing to change and evolve. One of her teammates became the first female athlete at MSJ to be awarded a scholarship. National championships were being staged by the NCAA and AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women). Condit's teams posted key wins over rivals like Dayton and Ohio State, finishing as high as 13th in the country.
 
"All of this started coming together finally, which was good," said Condit. "To see the growth of that from my childhood, to where you wish there were girls in your neighborhood to play with, to move on and find the real talent in high school, then getting to compete and travel in college." (Even if team travel at the collegiate level did involve a cross-country van trip from Ohio to California for volleyball camp!)
 
After beginning school as a Spanish major, Condit went on to earn a degree with a double major in physical education and theology. She graduated in 1976 (despite skipping school at least once to go downtown and celebrate the Cincinnati Reds' World Series title!) and headed off into the real world to teach and coach in high school.
 
"I taught phys. ed. and health for a couple years. I just knew I wanted to coach," said Condit. "I looked forward to [practice] after school." She got experience coaching teams in each of the sports she had previously played –basketball, volleyball, track, and softball— before eventually undertaking a master's degree at Indiana to pursue her dream of coaching in college.
 
As her studies wound down, several local institutions had volleyball coach openings, including her alma mater. Condit ended up taking the head job at Xavier, where she led the Musketeers' program for four seasons. Her first game in charge was September 24, 1980, or 42 years ago this week. The opponent? Miami University.
 
Condit went 29-9 in her first season at the helm and oversaw Xavier's transition from Division III to Division II to Division I during her tenure. She then made the move north to take over at Miami in 1984. "I couldn't pass this job up," she said simply. "It was full time!" Condit had been working in her father's law firm a few miles from Xavier's campus to pay the bills and was ready to become a full-time coach with the Red and White.
 
The rest is history.
 
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Jennie (Schuermann) Gilbert knows Carolyn Condit as a coach from many different angles. The RedHawks' associate athletic director and senior woman administrator oversees volleyball at Miami, but also has as a background as a college volleyball coach herself. Before that, Gilbert played volleyball at Miami University (1985-87). Her head coach? Carolyn Condit.
 
"She's honest, sometimes so honest that she tells you things you don't really want to hear about yourself," said Gilbert. "But I think that's important as a coach and a mentor.
 
"She's driven. She's fiercely loyal. And none of it has anything to do with volleyball skill. When I think about her as a coach, those are the attributes that come to mind right away in the way she goes about educating and teaching her student-athletes, including myself.
 
"That's exactly why she's been so successful all those years. She's held to her own personal values, which include honesty, loyalty, and integrity above all else, coupled with a drive and fierce competitive nature.
 
"She has stayed true to that for 39 years, even though the athletes change, the personalities change, and the game has significantly changed…she is still holding athletes accountable and to a standard of excellence that involves more than just volleyball skill."
 
One of Condit's favorite parts of her job at Miami is seeing the young women on her team reap the joy of their hard work and win a championship. Still, despite the 13 postseason tournament appearances and nine regular-season MAC titles her teams have amassed, winning is only means to an end for the RedHawks' coach.
 
"I've never been in it for the wins, but I always hoped they'd happen so I could keep doing it!," said Condit. "The young women, the effort, the energy…watching them be in each other's weddings: To me, those are the moments.
 
"It's fun for me, the process of pulling them together, helping them understand what their talents are, and then they can start supporting each other as they have confidence. What comes from that is what makes them great citizens and great leaders. We have doctors out there, people that run their own companies, and women that can do all they want now because they put themselves through the fire [in college]."
 
Every season, Condit welcomes back alumnae from a variety of different eras to connect and reminisce about their time as part of Miami Volleyball. It's one of the highlights of her year, even though she joked that it's kind of dangerous: "They tell stories!"
 
The reunions emphasize the impact the six-time MAC Coach of the Year has had, an influence that reaches far beyond the volleyball court. She said her best teams have people who not only love the game, but care more about each other than they do themselves. And the results over the past four decades have been spectacular.
 
"I'm most proud that there are over 100 women that I was involved with here that really seemed to enjoy their experience and show it by how they give back, how they come back, and what they've made of themselves out there," said Condit.
 
"I was not a huge part of that, but I was a little part of that…I'm just proud of women helping women and women fighting hard to show that they can be as strong and effective and good as they want to be."

Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.
 
Condit and the RedHawks are back in action this weekend at Millett Hall as they chase yet another MAC championship, with Kent State coming to town for two matches (Friday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m.). Miami Volleyball season tickets and single-game tickets are on sale now!