Dawn Cherwinka is in her second season as an assistant coach for the St. Olaf volleyball program in 2026-27 after joining the staff in August 2025.
In her first season with the program in 2025, St. Olaf went 27-9 overall (.750) and recorded its first unbeaten run through the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular season since 1996 to win its first regular-season title since 2010. The Oles also won their first NCAA Tournament match since 2010 by sweeping the University of Northwestern in the first round before falling in five sets to second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University.
Cherwinka came to St. Olaf after seven seasons as an assistant coach at Luther College. Prior to that, she coached 27 seasons of high school volleyball in Minnesota, including being the head coach at Faribault High School (2003-11) and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (1996-2003). While at Faribault, she was named the 3A Coach of the Year in 2011.
Cherwinka has also coached at the club level for Northern Lights (2009, 2011-14) and Club Falcons Volleyball (2003-12). She holds a bachelor of arts in fine art from Winona State University, a bachelor of arts in art education from Mankato State University, and a master of arts in educational leadership with an emphasis in technology from the University of Minnesota Moorhead.
