Coaches

Steve Voltz

Steve Voltz enters his third season as head coach of the Louisiana Tech women's soccer program after guiding the team to the 2022 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship tournament, their first bid since 2019.


In a year that plagued the Techsters with numerous injuries, Voltz's leadership provided LA Tech a 7-9-3 (5-3-2 C-USA) season record, which was the most conference wins and highest standing since 2017, and included a five-game unbeaten streak (four wins in a row) to close out the regular season slate.


The 2022 season also produced the most All-Conference selections and honors in program history. Flavie Dube became the program's first conference Freshman of the Year while also picking up All-Freshman Team and Second-Team All-Conference honors. Captains Josie Studer and Emma Jones were named Second-Team and Third-Team, respectively.


A week after wrapping up the 2021 season, Director of Athletics Dr. Eric A. Wood announced the removal of the interim tag after Voltz guided a squad with 18 newcomers, including 15 freshmen, to a 6-8-3 overall record and a 2-4-2 league mark. The team had a strong finish to the slate, going unbeaten in four of their last five matches in C-USA play.


During that final five-game stretch, the Bulldogs tied West Division champion Southern Miss and had their most complete game in the season finale with a 4-0 road victory at FIU.


Voltz came to Ruston in 2020 and served as the lead assistant coach during the split 2020-21 campaign.


He brought a wealth of collegiate soccer coaching experience to LA Tech as he has coached in a number of divisions across both the men’s and women’s game.


Voltz coached in Ottawa, Canada last year with Ottawa TFC at the Ontario Player Development Program (OPDL). Prior to that, he spent eight years (2011-18) at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi where he was an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team for two years before being promoted to head coach in April of 2013.


While head coach, he compiled an overall record of 62-46-5 and a conference record of 26-14-2 while guiding the Majors to two Southern Athletic Association (SAA) regular season titles, one SAA Tournament title and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.


He was awarded the 2016 Jim Montgomery Award for Athletics (professional achievement award at Millsaps) and coached multiple all-region and all-conference players as well as the program’s first NSCAA All-American in forward Nico Roth.


Prior to Millsaps, Voltz was a men’s assistant coach at Tusculum College in Tennessee in 2009 and head coach in 2010. He helped lead the Pioneers to a No. 5 national ranking and South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship in 2009 while coaching three All-Americans during his two-year stint.


Voltz spent three years coaching the women’s game. In 2008, he became the head women’s soccer coach at Huntingdon College in Alabama where he guided the Hawks to a Great South Atlantic Conference Tournament appearance.


This came after spending 2006-07 as an assistant coach at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. During his tenure, the team was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country, making two NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2007, the program won the regular season Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) west division and finished with 17 wins, the most in school history.


Over the years, he has spent time as a staff coach on the club level for Mississippi ODP, Tennessee ODP, Alabama ODP and Ralph Lundy Academy.


Voltz is a native of Offenbach, Germany and graduated from the University of Florida in 1999 with an undergraduate degree in language and literary studies and his Masters in German and literary studies.


He played soccer at Florida and in his home town of Offenbach.


Voltz is a certified coach with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and the United States Soccer Foundation (USSF). He also has earned NSCAA Premier, National and Advanced National diplomas.

Chris Harwick

Chris Harwick enters his third season as an assistant coach on the Bulldog soccer staff.


Harwick was instrumental in guiding the Techsters to their first Conference USA tournament bid since 2019, their highest conference standing since 2017, the most All-Conference Selections and honors in program history.


Harwick helped develop Flavie Dube into the program's first conference Freshman of the Year. Dube also picked up All-Freshman and Second-Team honors as a forward. Captains Josie Studer and Emma Jones were also named Second-Team and Third-Team respectively.


LA Tech finished 7-8-3 overall with a 5-3-2 mark in C-USA which also matched the most conference wins since 2017.


In his first season with LA Tech, he helped guide a squad with 18 newcomers, including 15 freshmen, to a 6-8-3 overall record and a 2-4-2 league mark. The team had a strong finish to the slate, going unbeaten in four of their last five matches in Conference USA including a draw with West Division champion Southern Miss and a 4-0 road victory at FIU in the season finale.


Harwick is also in charge of the program's soccer technology, which includes their Spiideo camera system that aids in analyzing matches and training sessions. He also oversees the SPT GPS units that track physical outputs/performances of the players.


Prior to coming to Ruston, Harwick spent two seasons as the top assistant for the Clarkson University men’s soccer program in Potsdam, New York.


Prior to his time with the Golden Knights, Harwick was an assistant coach at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi under Steve Voltz for three seasons. While with the Majors, he helped the team to 23 victories, including wins in the postseason three consecutive years. He also spent two months serving as the program’s interim head coach.


A graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2016 with a degree in Public Policy, Harwick spent four seasons with the Seahawks, serving as team captain in his senior year. Over the course of four years, Harwick played in 52 games which included 32 starting nods for the Seahawks.


Originally from Hanover, New Hampshire, Harwick is currently working towards completing an Environmental Policy masters from Clarkson University.


He holds a United States Soccer Federation ‘D’ coaching license. In addition to working for several camps and club teams, he also spent the summer of 2017 as a Youth Development Intern with D.C. United soccer club.

Stephanie Starr

Louisiana Tech soccer head coach Steve Voltz announced the hire of Stephanie Starr as the Bulldogs assistant coach.


Starr was a graduate assistant at Midwestern State University and was in charge of coaching goalkeepers. She finished her collegiate career in 2021 after playing two seasons at North Texas (2020-21) and Florida Gulf Coast (2018-19).


"I am thrilled to join the LA Tech coaching staff this spring. I am appreciative of Coach Voltz for the opportunity, and I look forward to contributing to this team's success both on and off the pitch," Starr stated.


Starr earned a Conference USA Academic Medal in 2020 at UNT and was named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll in 2021.


"Stephanie will be great for our GKs and our team," said Voltz. "She has experience on and off the field, brings a very competitive personality to our program, and will have an opportunity to make an immediate impact. I am thrilled she is joining us in the spring to build a strong relationship with our team and GKs going into the fall."

No Men's Soccer Program