Rayna Cain completed her 12th season as the head volleyball coach at Nebraska Wesleyan University. In her eleven seasons, Cain has compiled an impressive record of 173-142 (.549). She is one of only three NWU volleyball coaches to surpass 100 career wins. Additionally, Cain led the Prairie Wolves to one NCAA III National Championship appearance in her tenure.
At the helm of the program, Cain has had 31 players earn All-Conference recognition and coached three different players (Mackenzie Hite, 2012; Alyssa Stanek, 2014; Addie Thomas, 2023) to AVCA All-America honorable mention selections. Her teams have garnered the AVCA Academic Team award in all 12 years under her coaching.
Since joining the American Rivers Conference, Cain has guided the Prairie Wolves to the six-team conference postseason tournament in five of the seven seasons. Cain led a team of four seniors to the A-R-C Semifinals and a 21-8 record in 2023. The Prairie Wolves finished second in the A-R-C regular season, and Addie Thomas was voted the league's Most Valuable Player. With three freshmen in the lineup, the Prairie Wolves won 21 games and finished the season ranked seventh in the region.
In 2016, Cain led the Prairie Wolves to a 15-14 overall record and a 5-3 mark in the first season competing in the Iowa Conference. NWU earned the No. 4 seed in the IIAC Postseason Tournament, qualifying for their first conference tournament since 1994. She had two players earn 1
st-Team All-IIAC as well as the IIAC Freshman of the Year.
Her most successful season came in 2014 when Cain took Nebraska Wesleyan back to national prominence. NWU finished 22-7 overall and qualified for the NCAA III National Championship for the first time since 2010. She guided NWU to a perfect 12-0 regular season record against NCAA III opponents as the Prairie Wolves got the No. 1 seed at the St. Thomas Regional. NWU finished the season ranked No. 19 in the AVCA/DIII poll, the highest end of year ranking for the program since 2002. Nebraska Wesleyan went 10-6 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) to finish fourth in the league standings.
Cain guided NWU to a 20-8 overall record, going 10-2 against NCAA Division III competition in 2013. She helped the Prairie Wolves finish 10-6 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference to finish fifth in the GPAC standings. Seven of the eight losses on the year were to teams that were at one point ranked in either the NAIA or NCAA III Top 25.
She came to Nebraska Wesleyan after spending two seasons as the assistant women’s volleyball coach at Des Moines Area Community College. Prior to that, she served as the head volleyball coach at Dana College for four seasons before the school closed in 2010. While at Dana College, Cain helped develop a successful program with the Vikings taking the team from six victories in her first season to 22 wins in her fourth season. She also coached five All-GPAC players, six NAIA Scholar Athletes and had the program’s best season since 1993.
Before becoming head coach at Dana College, Cain served as head volleyball coach at Neligh-Oakdale High School for three seasons. She led the team to two conference titles, two district titles and consecutive trips to the Nebraska State Volleyball Tournament. Her combined record was 51-19 in three seasons at Neligh-Oakdale H.S.
Cain is a graduate from Wayne State College where she was a four-time First-Team All-Northern Sun Conference selection in volleyball and finished her career fourth on the all-time kill list. She helped Wayne State to the 2001 NSIC regular season title and became the first Wayne State athlete to be named All-NSIC in all four seasons. In the fall of 2011, she was inducted into the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame. She earned her bachelor and master’s of science in Exercise Science/Wellness from Wayne State College.
Cain and her husband Brett have three children, Sydnie, Adley and Emry.
Coach Cain's Record at NWU
| Year |
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
| 2012 |
13-15 |
7-9 (GPAC) |
| 2013 |
20-8 |
10-6 (GPAC) |
| 2014 |
22-7 |
10-6 (GPAC) |
| 2015 |
9-19 |
3-13 (GPAC) |
| 2016 |
15-14 |
5-3 (IIAC) |
| 2017 |
11-17 |
3-5 (IIAC) |
| 2018 |
9-16 |
2-6 (A-R-C) |
| 2019 |
20-8 |
5-3 (A-R-C) |
| 2020* |
3-5 |
3-5 (A-R-C) |
| 2021 |
11-14 |
1-7 (A-R-C) |
| 2022 |
19-11 |
4-4 (A-R-C) |
| 2023 |
21-8 |
7-1 (A-R-C) |
| Career |
173-142 |
60-68 |
*2020 Season Was Limited To Five Matches Due To The COVID-19 Global Health Pandemic
