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Katie Walker
Assistant Coach
Katie Walker, who owns more than six years of experience as a Division I assistant coach, joined the Drake University volleyball program in January, 2019.
Walker joined the Drake staff after a season as a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame where she actively assisted with the program’s defense and serving. She also aided in organizing the Fighting Irish’s recruiting efforts and team travel.
Before her season at Notre Dame, she served two seasons as an assistant coach at Seattle University. In addition to her on-court duties specializing with the team’s defense and serve/receive, she was the Redhawks’ recruiting coordinator and helped maintain the program’s budget.
Walker began her tenure on the Seattle staff after a season as an assistant coach at Middle Tennessee State and two seasons as a graduate assistant at Northern Kentucky. She also accumulated tremendous experience as a club and high school coach in Kentucky, Idaho and Washington.
A native of Kent, Wash., Walker played collegiately at Idaho State where she was a member of the Big Sky All-Academic Team. She earned a bachelor’s degree in human exceptionality from Idaho State and her master’s degree in education from Northern Kentucky.
Assistant Coach
Pono Yin begins his second season on the Drake volleyball staff after joining the program in the Summer of 2019. Yin joined the Bulldogs’ staff after three seasons as an assistant with the men’s and women’s volleyball programs and his alma mater, Graceland.
Yin also has extensive experience coaching at the club and high school levels.
At Graceland, Yin assisted in all aspects of both programs including the creation of practice plans and skill development while overseeing the programs’ travel. Yin also managed the Yellowjackets recruiting efforts and program operations.
Yin returned to Iowa after a sting in Las Vegas, Nev., where he was the head assistant women's and men's volleyball coach at Desert Oasis High School. During the same time, he also was a head coach for the DigThis! Volleyball Club.
Prior to those two positions, Yin served as the head women's volleyball coach and program director at Liberty High School and a head coach for the Vegas Aces club team.
He played volleyball at Graceland University from 2004-2009 and graduated from GU in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Volunteer Coach
Boahen has been a fixture on the Drake volleyball coaching staff since arriving at Drake in 2013.
Prior to joining the Bulldogs, the experienced coach and player was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis.
At Cardinal Stritch, Boahen helped over see and administer all on and off court aspects of the program. He also served as a camp instructor at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University.
He has also coached club teams in Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin and most recently with Iowa Power Volleyball Alliance in Des Moines.
As an athlete, Boahen was a standout four-year player at Cardinal Stritch as a defensive specialist and libero. He helped lead the team to back-to-back NAIA Nationals appearances and a conference title in 2009. Boahen graduated from Cardinal Strich in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in computer science.