Kieran Roblee is one of the newest additions to the Fresno City College athletics program.  

She has big shoes to fill as she is replacing Tracy Ainger-Schulte, who is now the head volleyball coach at Fresno Pacific University.

Ainger-Schulte coached the volleyball team for nine seasons, nine consecutive conference titles and two state final four appearances.

Roblee was born in Santa Barbara and spent the majority of her childhood in the gymnasium as her father was the athletics director at Dos Pueblos High School.

“My dad was the athletics director. The football stadium is named after him. I grew up in the fields and the gym over there,” Roblee said as she talked about her introduction to athletics.

She would later attend Dos Pueblos High School, where she began a volleyball journey that would eventually lead to a head coaching position at FCC more than 25 years later.

After high school, Roblee signed to play volleyball at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, for one year.

“I transferred back and went to Santa Barbara City College. I’m proud to be a Santa Barbara City College Vaquero. I was there for three semesters and got my AA degree,” Roblee said.

“To this day, I think that’s one of the reasons that community college has been an important part of who I am and the benefits I really got from it.”

Roblee would eventually end up in Fresno by signing with California State University, Fresno.

“I finished my playing career as a starting center at Fresno State for two years. I played at Cal Poly, red shirted at Santa Barbara City, and finished out at Fresno State,” she said.

Roblee stayed in Fresno, although she does make regular visits back home to Santa Barbara to visit family.

“The climate is very different, and the nice things about Fresno are that we are close to the mountains and the national parks,” Roblee said.

“Outdoor mountain activities are great, and if you want to go to San Francisco it’s not too bad of a drive.”

With more than 25 years of coaching experience, Roblee started off her coaching career dealing with challenges and adversity.

“My very first team that I ever coached was a high school girls freshman basketball team; We never won a game, and we never scored more than 10 points,” she said.

“My point to young coaches is if I had been given a team that was great and solid, I don’t know what type of coach I would have become because I would not have had to deal with challenges.”

Roblee appreciates that students come from all over the country in order to participate in FCC athletics programs.  “I think tradition and the success, the foundation of that success, helps bring people here,” she said.

The women’s volleyball team has started off the season 13-1, with the only loss to the defending state champs, Cabrillo College.

“We’re going to continue the success that has been laid, but the goal is also to be the best in the state,” Roblee said. “That’s the bottom line.”