Kateri Linville - Lacrosse Coach - James Madison University Athletics

Kateri Linville

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
linvilkc@jmu.edu
Phone:
540-568-7356
Physical Address:
Convocation Center 1088 (895 University Blvd) / MSC 4705

Kateri Linville was named as associate head coach with the James Madison women's lacrosse program on October 28, 2021. In her role, she serves as the program’s defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. She brings championship coaching experience in three different conferences, national championships, and international coaching to JMU.

In Linville's time assisting Coach Klaes, the program has advanced to five consecutive NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Tournaments and four conference championships due to conference realignment. They have posted a .752 winning percentage, which rivals th top five winning percentages nationally. For the second time in program history, the Dukes advanced to the Second Round or better of the NCAA tournament in four consecutive years and racked up 21 signature wins over top-25 ranked teams.

In 2025, the Dukes posted a 14-5 record, including an unblemished 6-0 mark in American Athletic Conference play. The defense consistently leveled up over the course of the spring to finish 23rd in scoring defense 10.21, and 51st in caused turnovers per game (8.42). The Dukes held opponents to 10-or-less goals in 10 of their 21 games played. The unit featured First Team All-AAC selections in sophomore Ava Bleckley and freshman Reese Cuviello.

She led the JMU defense to another successful season in 2024, as they held their opponent to 10-or-less goals in nine of their 20 games played. Her defense featured an All-American Honorable Mention in Ava Bleckley, who was also awarded American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. The rookie led the Dukes in ground balls and caused turnovers and ranked third on the team in draw controls. Linville's defense caused 9.40 opponent turnovers per game, ranking 26th nationally. Additionally, the defense limited opponents to just 27.5 shots per game throughout the season.

Linville continues to assist student-athletes on and off the field, as shown with the team's continuing academic success. In 2024, the team posted a cumulative GPA of 3.444 and saw Katelyn Morgan recognized as a valedictorian. Morgan also was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Team, just the 22nd student-athlete in JMU history to earn the award, dating back to 1976.

She helped JMU to its best defensive season under her guidance in 2023, marking a 7.86 scoring defense and holding 17 of 22 opponents to single-digit goals. Linville's defense featured a pair of All-Americans in Mariead Durkin and Rachel Matey, who respectively led the roster in caused turnovers and ground balls. Her defense limited opponent shots all year, allowing just 22.2 shots per game. Additionally, she was named the IWLCA Assistant Coach of the Year and the 2023 coaching staff was recognized as the IWLCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Linville marked her first season as Associate Head Coach in 2022, guiding the defense to high marks in the CAA and nationally in her third season overall at JMU. The defense was ranked 11th in scoring in Division I and was one of just 14 schools to give up fewer than 10 goals per game in the country. Mairead Durkin put up a record-setting season with 52 caused turnovers, the most in JMU history, earning her CAA and VaSID All-State Defensive Player of the Year. Linville’s defense also held opponents to a .297 free-position percentage, which equaled the second-lowest eight-meter mark in all of Division I. The season featured a signature win at No. 3 Maryland, in which JMU held a potent UMD offense to just two second-half goals in a 13-8 victory.

She was named associate head coach after assisting head coach Shelley Klaes reach a sixth consecutive NCAA tournament in 2021 with a record of 12-5. The 2021 season also included a fourth straight conference championship and the program's 500th win.

She also helps oversee the program's operating budget and was responsible for the team's equipment ordering. Linville manages practice and scout film while also directing the team's academic excellence program.

Administratively, Linville is part of the JMU Diversity & Inclusion Committee, where she anchors the group's book club to create a safe space to lean into the conversation and create allyship. She is also on the Employee Subcommittee where she explores and advances diversity and inclusion opportunities, resources and tools for the department of athletics staff.

Linville was named the IWLCA Coaches Education Committee Chair and also serves on the IWLCA Player of the Week committee, helping determine who receives national weekly honors throughout the season.

She additionally is a member of the IWLCA Coaches Continuing Education Committee, which is a platform for networking, career planning, professional development, resources and tools, diversity and inclusion advancement and support. In that role she supported IWLCA Deep Dive with the University of North Carolina and developed curriculum and recruited speakers for the IWLCA Students of Color Symposium.

Linville is no stranger to JMU and the Colonial Athletic Association, having served the previous nine seasons as the head coach at Delaware (2011-19). During her time at her alma mater, she led the Blue Hens to a 79-75 record and 28-28 mark in league play, advancing to the CAA Championship semifinals on four occasions.

In her second season with the Dukes, redshirt senior Emma Johnson was named CAA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the third straight JMU student-athlete to win the league's top defensive honor. Johnson was also named VaSID Defensive Player of the Year while Molly Dougherty was named VaSID Player of the Year. Dougherty and Johnson also received All-American recognition in 2021.

She coached two defensive Dukes who earned Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-America status in Molly Dougherty and Rachel Matey in her first season as assistant coach.

Off the field, the team achieved a program-best 3.2 combined GPA in fall 2021, with 20 student-athletes being honored on the CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. She was helpful in the nomination efforts of Halle Duenkel for the Yeardley Reynolds Love Unsung Hero Award in 2020, and the Dukes finished top 10 nationally for service efforts through Helper Helper. Student-athletes under Linville's guidance have won IWLCA community service awards at JMU, Delaware, and Notre Dame.

Linville's gritty, 'get the ball' defensive mentality has helped her teams consistently finish near the top of the rankings in caused turnovers, ground balls, and goals against average. In her nine seasons at Delaware, the program produced consistent success on the defensive side of the ball, ranking in the top 25 in scoring defense and top 30 in caused turnovers on six occasions. The Blue Hens were top 15 in scoring defense four times under Linville, including a three-year stretch in which they were fourth in 2015, 13th in 2016 and seventh in 2017.

During her time in Newark, she produced 44 all-conference honorees including 16 First Team All-CAA selections, and five athletes who earned IWLCA All-Region awards. Linville’s tenure produced Delaware’s first CAA Defensive Player of the Year in Erin Wein, who garnered the award in 2016. Caitlin McCartney was 2012 Rookie of the Year and earned First Team All-CAA honors all four years. Casey Lyons was also a three-time First Team selection.

Linville guided Delaware to four CAA Championship appearances in a five-year span, in which it matched up with JMU in each of those outings. The Blue Hens had five winning seasons under Linville’s tutelage and registered four consecutive double-digit winning seasons (2013-16). The 2016 season saw UD open with an 8-1 record, it’s best start to a season since the turn of the century, while also ranking third nationally with the third-fewest turnovers per game.

Prior to her return to Delaware, she spent five years as an assistant coach at Notre Dame (2006-10), working closely with the defensive unit while also serving as recruiting coordinator. Linville helped the Fighting Irish to four NCAA Championship appearances, including three straight over her final three seasons. Her run with the program was highlighted by one of college lacrosse’s biggest turnarounds, in which they advanced to their first and only national semifinals in 2006 in her first season while winning 12 more games than the season before. Notre Dame also won the 2009 Big East Tournament title and reached the NCAA quarterfinals that same season.

Linville is credited with mentoring the Irish’s first two defensive players to earn IWCLA First Team All-America laurels, with Shannon Burke gaining the accolade in 2009 and Jackie Doherty taking home the honor a year later. A total of eight players received postseason recognition during her five-year stint.

Before Notre Dame, Linville joined the college ranks at Virginia, where she was a volunteer assistant under Julie Myers from 2004-05 while earning her master’s degree. She was part of the Cavaliers’ 2004 ACC and NCAA titles and helped the team make a return trip to the national championship game the next year.

Linville began her coaching career in 2002 as a camp director and clinician for the German Club Lacrosse team. The following year, she served as volunteer assistant at her high school alma mater, Moorestown High School in New Jersey, helping the team win the state championship and rank second nationally.

In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Linville was an assistant coach for the Canadian Lacrosse Association Under 19 National Team from 2009-11, helping the team win the bronze medal at the 2011 FIL U-19 World Championship in Hanover, Germany.

She also served on the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse regional advisory committee and IWLCA Regional All-American committee from 2011-14.

Linville is a 2003 graduate of Delaware, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science. She also graduated with a master’s of education degree in sport and exercise psychology from Virginia in 2007.

As a student-athlete at Delaware, Linville was a three-year letter winner in the midfield. She was part of UD’s 2000 NCAA tournament team and helped the team to America East runner-up finishes in both 2000 and 2001. Linville was co-captain as a senior in 2003 and was an IWLCA Academic Honor Roll recipient.