Mary Frahm was named the first head volleyball coach in Heartland Community College history on July 23, 2019. She enters her seventh year at the helm of the Heartland volleyball program in the 2026–27 season.
Following her sixth season as head coach, Frahm holds a career record of 183–41. In 2025, the Hawks captured the first volleyball national championship in school history. On October 26, 2023, Coach Frahm earned her 100th career win against Waubonsee College.
The 2025 championship run was one of complete dominance, as the Hawks finished the season with a 40–4 record. During the regular season, Heartland defeated 13 opponents ranked in the top 25, including a win over No. 1 Cowley Community College, which had won 104 consecutive matches entering the contest. The Hawks’ longest winning streak of the season reached 21 matches. Heartland also claimed the No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history. At home, the Hawks were undefeated with a 15–0 record.
This success led to Heartland hosting its first-ever district tournament, where the Hawks did not drop a set. For the second time under Frahm’s leadership, Heartland won the district title and advanced to the NJCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history, earning its highest seed ever as the No. 2 team. Throughout the national tournament, the Hawks dropped just one set and defeated No. 4 Kansas City, Kansas, 3–0 in the championship match.
The 2025 season brought numerous achievements and honors for Frahm and her players. Coach Frahm was named Region 24, MWAC, NJCAA Division II, and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coach of the Year. She also coached two First-Team All-Americans, Graci Junis and Brooklyn Brennan. Junis was named NJCAA Division II Player of the Year, while Brennan earned MWAC Player of the Year honors. Additional accolades included four All-Region selections and five All-Conference selections. During the season, Sam Molenhouse was named NJCAA Defensive Player of the Week, and Libby Detweiler was named NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week during the same week. Detweiler also earned AVCA Two-Year College Player of the Week honors.
The 2024 season marked another major step forward for the program. The Hawks set a new school record at the time with a 39–8 record and defeated 11 teams ranked in the top 25. At home, Heartland compiled a 12–2 record. This strong résumé earned the Hawks their second consecutive at-large bid to the NJCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed. Heartland opened the tournament with a 2–0 start and advanced to the NJCAA semifinals, where they fell to eventual champion Cowley Community College. The Hawks rebounded to defeat Kansas City, Kansas, in their final match to place third nationally—the highest finish in program history at that time.
The 2024 season also included numerous individual honors. Mairen Mannon was named MWAC Player of the Year for all sports, Region Player of the Year, and a First-Team All-American. She also received the Lea Plarski Award, which recognizes an NJCAA student-athlete who exemplifies sportsmanship, leadership, community service, academic excellence, and athletic ability. Additionally, three players earned All-Region honors and three received All-Conference recognition. During the season, Sam Molenhouse was named NJCAA Division II Defensive Player of the Week.
In the 2023 season, the Hawks finished with a 31–11 record and returned to the NJCAA Tournament for the first time in two years. The season was highlighted by Coach Frahm earning her 100th career win on October 26 against Waubonsee College. During the regular season, Heartland defeated one ranked opponent, No. 5 Parkland, marking the first win over the Cobras in school history. At the NJCAA Tournament, the Hawks earned the No. 10 seed and finished 1–2, with their win coming against Walters State. Individual honors included First-Team All-American Kennedy Conrad, along with four All-Region selections and three All-Conference selections.
The 2022 season concluded with a 31–7 record for the Hawks. During the season, Heartland defeated six opponents ranked in the top 25 and climbed as high as No. 6 in the national rankings. At home, the Hawks posted a 9–1 record. Frahm and the Hawks narrowly missed the NJCAA Tournament after falling in the district final. Individual honors included Samantha Hovey earning Second-Team All-American recognition. Hovey was also named both AVCA Two-Year College Player of the Week and NJCAA Player of the Week. The season featured three All-Region selections and four All-Conference selections, and the volleyball team earned the highest GPA in the athletic department for the school year.
The 2021 season was another exciting year for Coach Frahm and the Hawks, who finished with a 31–8 record. Throughout the season, Heartland climbed as high as No. 8 in the national rankings and defeated three ranked opponents. For the first time in program history, the Hawks advanced to the NJCAA Tournament after defeating Illinois Central 3–0 to win their first district title. Heartland entered the tournament as the No. 10 overall seed and earned its first-ever national tournament win against Scottsdale Community College. A subsequent victory over Kirkwood secured a seventh-place finish at the national tournament. Frahm’s team also earned the sportsmanship award at the 2021 National Championship. Carley Baughman became the first All-American in program history, and the Hawks recorded three All-Region and three All-Conference selections.
The inaugural season for Heartland volleyball took place during the 2020–21 academic year. Due to COVID-19, the season was conducted in the spring. Coach Frahm and the Hawks earned the program’s first-ever win on February 18, 2021, against Frontier Community College. Heartland qualified for postseason play, but the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
Before Heartland, Frahm was a 2019 AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award recipient. She assisted in getting the program to their first ever Sweet 16 appearance, first CCIW tournament championship since 1997, and the highest national ranking of 10
th in the nation. While at IWU, the program won regular season CCIW champions in 2015 and 2018. In her tenure at IWU Mary coached All-Americans Tyler Brown, Rachel Burkman and Maddie Williams.
A graduate of Division II Lewis University, Frahm was a four-year varsity volleyball player and two-year captain for teams that had a 110-27 overall record  and won four consecutive conference championships and one conference tournament championship. She earned Lewis' Delahanty Award for academic excellence among student-athletes. Frahm served as a Graduate Assistant Coach at IWU while earning her master’s degree in sports management from Illinois State University.
She coached at Stanford (Ill.) Olympia High School and, while in college, coached at the youth and high school level for Club 1 Volleyball in Plainfield, Ill. Frahm was also the campaign manager for the United Way of McLean County in Bloomington.
Frahm and her husband Matt are parents to children, Chloe and Daxon.
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