Katelin Opitz (formerly Batten) serves as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Pioneers. She completed her 10th season at DU in 2021, helping the Pioneers to their 10th straight winning season, 21st in program history.
Since joining the Pioneers in 2012, Opitz has assisted in making Denver one the nation’s most successful programs, ranking 19th out of all D1 programs with an overall win percentage of .786.
In the Fall of 2021, Opitz led the Crimson and Gold to a 23-6 record, earning wins over ranked USC and Iowa. Opitz assisted in leading the Pioneers to league-best numbers in hitting percentage (.263), Assists (12.67), Aces (1.94), Opponent Attack Percentage (.166), Opponent Assists (9.62), Opponent Kills (10.61), Opponent Service Aces (.99), and Opponent Digs (11.92). The Pioneers also ranked inside the NCAA top-40 in all the above statistical categories.
In the spring of 2021, Opitz helped lead the Crimson and Gold to a regular-season Summit League Championship with a 13-2 mark, including posting the first perfect undefeated road record (8-0) in program history. Opitz led the Pioneer defense to four top-50 NCAA statistical performances in blocks per set (2.47), opponent hitting percentage (.160), Aces per set (2.24), and Total Aces (130).
Opitz helped lead the Pioneers to a 23-9 overall record in 2019, going 13-3 in conference action along with the Pioneers fifth Summit League championship and sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. The Pios finished the regular season ranked 13th in the nation in aces per set (1.75) while topping the Summit League in blocks per set (2.28). Denver landed their third all-time All-America selection under Opitz following their 2019 campaign in junior outside hitter, Lydia Bartalo.
The 2018 season, was filled with groundbreaking moments. The Pioneers went a perfect 15-0 in Summit League matches, went on a 25-match win streak that included 16 sweeps, received votes in the AVCA Top-25 Poll for the first time, earned their first-ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, and wrapped up the year with a 27-3 mark, the best record in program history. Opitz also led the DU defense to an NCAA D1 ranking of 6th in Opponent Attack Efficiency.
In 2017, Denver amassed a 23-6 record, reaching the 20 win mark for the fourth time in as many years. Opitz spearheaded the team to a second-consecutive year of holding opponents to a .171 hitting rate, which ranked 39th nationally, and a defense that was credited with 2.31 blocks per set. DU led The Summit League in total blocks (236) and blocks per set. Under her guidance, Emma Willis led the league in total blocks (117), assisted blocks (108) and blocks per set (1.15) and Tina Boe was third in assisted blocks (91), tied for sixth in total blocks with 97 and sixth in blocks per set (.97). Both Willis and Boe were nationally ranked in the categories of total blocks and blocks per set. Willis was named to the all-league and all-tournament team and Boe earned a spot on the all-freshman team as a result of their efforts.
After the 2016 campaign, DU recorded its third-straight season with at least 20 wins behind a 23-8 record, including its third consecutive Summit League title in the regular season and tournament, to earn the program's third berth to the NCAA Tournament against Stanford. Opitz guided the Pioneers to a .171 defensive efficiency, fourth-best in school history and 35th in the NCAA, featuring 2.44 blocks per set with their best performance coming on Sept. 3 against [20] Loyola Marymount when Denver took a four-set victory behind 19 blocks. DU finished ranked 57th in the NCAA with 282.5 total blocks. The Pioneers had an even better look at Hamilton Gymnasium, amassing a 14-1 record while limiting opponents to a .132 hitting efficiency behind 2.76 blocks per set.
In 2015, Denver capped off its second 27-win season with its second straight trip to the NCAA tournament, finishing 27-8 on the season. The Pioneers faced No. 5 seed Washington after winning The Summit League Championship and earning The Summit League regular season title with a 13-3 record.
The Pioneers wrapped up a history-making season in 2014 going 13-3 in Summit League play and 27-7 overall. The 2014 team won both the regular season and conference tournament titles and earned the program's first automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Opitz led the Pioneer defense to a conference best 16.18 digs-per-set average with libero Kate Acker earning All-Summit League honors.
In 2013 Opitz and the Pioneers matched their 2012 win total finishing second in Summit League regular season play. During the 2013 conference tournament, the Pioneers came from two-sets down to beat South Dakota in the Summit League Semifinals to advance to the program's first ever league final. Denver narrowly missed a bid to the NCAA tournament after falling to IUPUI in the conference tournament championship match. In their senior campaigns, Brea Muhle and Colleen King both earned All-Summit League, AVCA All-Region, and AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors. Muhle also finished the season ranked 6th in the NCAA in Hitting Percentage.
In her first season as assistant, Opitz helped Denver to a 17-13 overall record and a 10-8 mark in the Pioneers one and only season in the Western Athletic Conference. She worked closely with the Pioneers libero corps guiding them to a 14.7 digs per set average.
Opitz also works heavily within the USA Volleyball High Performance Pipeline. Most recently, Batten led the USA Youth A1 White to a silver medal in the women's international division at the High Performance Championships. She also helped train the youth national team before the World Championships in 2017. In 2015 Batten served as an assistant coach on the Youth A1 Red Team at the USA High Performance Championships, winning a bronze medal in the International Women's division. In 2014 she assisted in training the USA Junior National and Youth National Teams before the NORCECA championships in which a gold and silver medal were won respectively. She also served as a coach during the 2013 and 2014 USA HP Holiday Camps and was the featured coach in USA Volleyball's March 2014 blog.
Opitz came to DU with a wealth of playing experience after playing four years at Colorado State University. At CSU, she earned Mountain West Conference Libero of the Year honors in 2009, along with AVCA All-America and AVCA All-Region recognition. She currently holds the CSU record for all-time career digs and helped CSU earn NCAA Tournament appearances in all four years including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2009.
Prior to joining DU, Opitz was an assistant to former Ohio State head coach, Jim Stone at Front Range Volleyball Club. She also served as an assistant with the Norco Volleyball Club under former University of Nebraska head coach, Terry Pettit.
Opitz earned a M.S. degree in Organizational Leadership from Denver in 2016 and earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Technical Communication from Colorado State University in 2010.
Katelin Opitz is married to Jake Opitz who coaches baseball for the Colorado Rockies. They have two children, Chloe and Jackson.
