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Women's Volleyball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- (260) 481-5445
Kelley Hartley Hutton was named director of athletics at Purdue Fort Wayne in February of 2014, after 15 seasons as head coach of the women's volleyball program and 13 years as the Senior Woman Administrator. With over 30 years of collegiate athletic administrative and coaching experience, she continues to emphasize student-athlete welfare issues and academic success.
On August 7 of 2019 Hartley Hutton announced that Purdue Fort Wayne would join the Horizon League beginning in the 2020-21 – a transformational move for the Mastodons in terms of strategic values and goals, geographic footprint, and recruiting. To secure necessary funding for the transition, she led a campaign securing private gifts, pledges and community support.
She oversees external affairs, men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Under her leadership, the largest deferred gift in the program’s history was cultivated and more recently the largest gift ever to the Athletics Discretionary fund. In 2015, she successfully led the fundraising campaign to name the court in the Gates Athletics Center “Arnie Ball” court after the coaching legend announced his retirement.
In 2022, Hartley Hutton was a recipient of the Purdue system’s Title IX Distinguished Service Award. Truly a “coach” at heart, Hartley Hutton remains committed to mentoring and leadership and has been involved in the NACDA I-AAA, WeCoach, and Women Leaders In College Sports mentor programs, matched with mentees at other campuses. She often speaks and serves on panels focused on the critical importance of women in coaching and administration. One of first 10 NCAA Division I athletic directors to commit to the Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge in 2020, Hartley Hutton remains committed to fair and open hiring practices to advance equity and access to head coach positions in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball. Currently, she chairs the Horizon League Gender Equity committee and serves on the league Resource Committee as well.
She initiated the department’s first strategic planning process in January of 2016, galvanizing vision and priorities for Mastodon Athletics which emphasize academic distinction, community engagement, and competitive excellence. At the same time, to celebrate the University’s first-50 years of sports, she organized a committee to identify significant events and people associated with the rich athletic history. That work resulted in the Mastodon Athletics timeline display which was unveiled at an event in August of 2017.
In year two (2015-16), Hartley Hutton led the initiative to study and rebrand the department as “Fort Wayne Athletics” and started the Mastodon Athletics Advisory Board (MAAB) which is comprised of leaders in the Fort Wayne business community.
Hartley Hutton served as the chair of the Summit League Women’s Basketball Committee in 2017-18 and also served as the chair of the Summit League Joint Council (2015-17), and was appointed to the men’s and women’s basketball scheduling committee (2016). She was selected to serve on the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee for a four-year term and has participated in the men’s basketball CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) selection process.
Hartley Hutton arrived to Purdue Fort Wayne in 1999 and took the reins of a volleyball program that had a solid tradition and embarked on 314 victories (314-161 overall) making her the most winning women’s volleyball coach in school history. She produced winning records in 13 of her 15 years at the helm of Purdue Fort Wayne and in all, tallied 11, 20-win seasons and a pair of 25-win seasons. Hartley Hutton saw the program through the transition to NCAA Division I in 2001 and entrance into the Summit League in 2007.
In 2006, she helped lead her team to the Independent Championship title, and was named the Independent Coach of the Year for the third time in five seasons. Her 2009 team was crowned as Summit League Champions, giving Purdue Fort Wayne its first-ever NCAA Div. I Tournament berth. Her squad repeated the accomplishment in 2012, falling in the opening round in five sets to nationally ranked Iowa State. The 2010 team won the regular season conference title and Hartley Hutton was named Summit League Coach of the Year. The Mastodons had never missed the Summit League Tournament under Hartley Hutton’s tutelage and was tournament runner-up in 2007 and 2010.
Kelley and her family enjoy all the community of Fort Wayne has to offer, especially in terms of sporting events, concerts, and outdoor activities.
