Athletic Hall of Fame
Mary (Palmreuter) Cowan BA ’88 earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education.
Cowan competed in volleyball for four seasons, three as a starter. She played a strong all-around game, contributing significantly in several statistical categories but primarily as a setter. Her 1,138 assists rank her tenth all-time through the 2018 season. In her senior season, she handed out 451 assists as part of the 6-2 offense and helped the Cougars to 1,129 kills for the season, both team records for that era of Cougar volleyball. Cowan was named All-Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference and, later that year, Cowan earned the distinction of becoming CUC’s first-ever first-team national Academic All-American as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Directly after college, Cowan began serving at St. John’s Lutheran School in Buckley, IL where she has taught third and fourth grades. She has also coached seventh and eighth grade girls’ volleyball at St. John’s. Since 1994, Cowan’s teams have made it to the Illinois Elementary Lutheran School Association state tournament nine times including three top-four finishes. Cowan has also run St. John’s volleyball tournaments and directed a community volleyball camp during the summer.
