Coaching Staff

Within the athletics program at Indiana Tech you will find only the best coaches with a proven record of success for themselves and their student athletes on and off the field.

Kirsta Solberg

Full-size photo
Office Phone: (260) 422-5561, x2383
Cell Phone: (260) 348-3337
Email: ktsolberg@indianatech.edu

Get to know Coach Solberg

Kirsta Solberg will be entering her fifth season with the Lady Warriors in 2011. In her first four seasons with Indiana Tech, she posted a 126-41 record, going 34-6 overall in 2010 with a 15-1 conference record. She also led the team to its second WHAC Conference Tournament Championship in 2010 as well as a thrid straight WHAC Conference Regular Season Championship. The team qualified for its 3rd NAIA National Tournament Appearance since 2008. In the 2009 National Tournament, Solberg guided the team to their best finish yet at the final site, landing in the top 12 of the country. In 2010, she was named WHAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year and in 2007, she was named WHAC Coach of Character. Solberg also helped lead a successful team in the classroom as the Varsity squad has maintained a team GPA of a 3.56 in 2010 as well as having 12 NAIA Academic All-Americans in the past 4 years. Her coaching philosophy is about working hard on and off of the court to achieve the things that you want, and doing so by maintaining the characteristics of respect, humility, unity, thankfulness, serventhood, integrity, discipline, and passion.

Solberg has had much experience with all levels of volleyball and knows what it takes to be successful at all of them. As a high school player for Huron High School in Huron, Ohio, she helped lead her team to its first ever Division III State Volleyball Championship in 1999. She was also named 1st Team All-Ohio, District Player of the Year and was runner-up for Ohio Player of the Year. Solberg then went on to play at Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana where she received her Bachelor in Fine Arts for Visual Communication and Design while playing 4 years with the Mastodons. While at IPFW, she took the role of captain and helped lead the team to the Division I Independent Tournament Championship in 2002 and Runner-ups in 2003. She was also named on the All-Independent team as well as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2004. After her four years with IPFW, she continued her career playing professionally with Holte IF in Copenhagen, Denmark. There she was the first American in the league as well as helped lead her team to the Danish National Finals.

Assistant Coaches

Ashtyn Humerickhouse is entering her second season as a member of Lady Warriors volleyball staff.

Ashtyn came to Indiana Tech to join the inaugural volleyball team in 2005. She was a four-year member of the team as a middle blocker. She holds the career records for kills (1543), block assists (282), and solo blocks (108) at Indiana Tech.

During her playing career, Ashtyn was named to the All-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference First Team three times with a Second Team and Freshman All-WHAC honors as well. Ashtyn was named the WHAC Player of the Week during her senior campaign.

She also help lead Indiana Tech to the NAIA National Tournament in 2008. Humerickhouse was selected as a NAIA All-American by the AVCA after earning AVCA All-Region Team honor.

Ashtyn joins the staff after coaching at Union College in Barbourville, KY for the 2009 season. During her time at Union she helped guide the Lady Bulldogs to a 29-5 overall record and 15-1 conference record. The Lady Bulldogs won both the AAC regular-season and tournament championships and advanced to the NAIA National Championship Tournament for the first time in program history.

With her coaching background and career at Indiana Tech, Ashtyn brings much experience to the Varsity team and assists in recruiting as well as teaching the basic skills of volleyball, teamwork, and leadership to help build a successful team both on and off the court at Indiana Tech. “Ashtyn was an amazing student-athlete to coach while at Indiana Tech. She has great leadership and team building skills as well as great knowledge of the game. I have great faith that as a coach she will continue to be a very integral part of the program that she helped build as a student-athlete,” said head coach Kirsta Solberg.

Jorge Emilio Ralat joins the Indiana Tech Warriors for his fourth season as the setters' trainer and assistant coach. Jorge has brought much success and insight into the setter's role on the Warrior squad. He has played a very important role in training the setters as well as bringing insight from the men's side of the game. “Jorge has done a tremendous job with not only our setters, but with the entire team. He has excellent knowledge and energy and has a unique ability to pass that on to the student-athletes. His presence alone helps to increase the intensity of training and we look forward to having him work with the team again,” said head coach Kirsta Solberg.

Originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico, Jorge spent his early years of volleyball setting for his 2-time championship high school team, Academia Cristo Rey, where he graduated in 1993. While in high school, he was named the Player of the Year on his Championship team in 1992 and 1993. He was also named the Athlete of the Year for his high school in 1993. Jorge has also spent 5 years playing professionally in Puerto Rico for various teams. He was part of the championship team with Ponce Lions. Volleyball brought Jorge to Indiana, as he played for the IPFW Mastodons from 1996-1999 and was a part of the Final Four team that competed in UCLA in 1999. Jorge also spent some time playing professionally in 2006 for Omonia, Nicosia (Cyprus) in 2006.