Bio

Phyllis Fowler is in her sixth season as head women's volleyball coach at Texas Lutheran University. Fowler was hired to the TLU coaching position on May 22, 2018.

The 2022 season was the most successful season to date under Fowler, who was named the SCAC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 27-10 overall record, matching the most in a single-season since Texas Lutheran became an NCAA institution, and appearing in the program's third NCAA Tournament.The Bulldogs  - a team picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll - conclude the 2022 season with a 27-10 record, going 11-5 in the SCAC to claim fourth place in the conference in the regular season before winning their first SCAC Conference Championship in the 2022 SCAC Tournament. After clinching the 2022 SCAC Tournament Championship, Texas Lutheran won its first SCAC Championship and third championship of the NCAA-era, joining the 2004 and 2007 American Southwest Championships. The 2022 season is the first time the Bulldogs have tallied double-digit conference wins since joining the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in the fall of 2013. Lexi Morris added to the Bulldogs' list of SCAC Backrow Player of the Year winners that includes Megan Lee (2013, '14), Jaci Chambers (2018), and Morris herself in the 2021 season. Morris became only the second Bulldog in program history to win back-to-back SCAC Backrow Player of the Year honors - joining Lee. Morris also became the first AVCA All-West Region honoree since Texas Lutheran joined the SCAC and first overall since Jessica Stetler in 2010, earning honorable mention honors. Texas Lutheran finished in the top five nationally in total assists (1,584), digs (2,479), total attacks (5,236) and kills (1,698) and top 25 nationally in total blocks and attacks per set as a team while Lexi Morris finished second in Division-III in digs and Madison Weisinger finishes in the top ten in NCAA Division-III in total blocks and block assists.

The 2021 season saw the Bulldogs finish 19-14 and making it to the second round of the SCAC Championship Tournament. The Bulldogs would win bring home conference awards with junior libero Lexi Morris winning Backrow Player of the Year and freshman Shavonne Respondek winning Freshman of the Year. Morris would lead all of Division-III with 737 digs in the 2021 season.

The 2020-21 spring volleyball season, a season unlike any other due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the Bulldogs go 5-12 in a conference-only schedule. The Bulldogs would have one player (Madison Weisinger) named to the All-SCAC Women's Volleyball team along with 14 players earning SCAC Academic Honor Roll honors.

After a 9-21 overall record, with a 6-10 mark in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, in her first season (2018) with TLU, the Bulldogs and Fowler had an 11-match turn-around in 2019. The team won 20 matches, going 20-17 and collecting a 9-9 SCAC record.

After a year away from the SCAC Women's Volleyball Championship, Fowler and the Bulldogs returned to the SCAC Championships, playing in the quarterfinal round against Southwestern University.

In the regular season of the 2019 season, the Bulldogs upset Southwestern, ending the Pirates 24-match win streak over the Bulldogs.

Through four seasons at TLU, Fowler is 53-64 overall (.453) and 29-37 in the SCAC.

Prior to TLU, Fowler led New Braunfels High School to a pair of Class 4A State Volleyball Championships and after guiding Navarro High School to a Class 4A State Semifinal appearance in 2016.
 
Fowler was a head volleyball coach at the high school level for 27 seasons, and she has 36 years of coaching experience overall. Fowler's high school volleyball coaching record was 733-316, a .699 winning percentage.
 
Fowler coached New Braunfels High School to state tournament appearances in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2005.
 
The Unicorns won the state title in 2000 and 2005 and finished as the state runner-up in 2002.
 
After coaching at New Braunfels from 1995 to 2011, Fowler moved to Navarro High School, where she went a combined 168-56 in five seasons. In her final year at Navarro, the Lady Panthers went 41-5 overall and made the program's first trip to the state tournament since 1976.
 
In 2017, Fowler coached at New Braunfels Christian Academy and led the Lady Cats to a 26-7 overall record.
 
Fowler's first coaching stop came at Smithson Valley High School, where she was the head girls basketball coach and a volleyball assistant coach. She then moved to Holmes High School as head girls basketball coach and assistant volleyball coach.
 
The first head coaching job for Fowler came at Taft High School in San Antonio as their inaugural head volleyball coach.
 
Fowler also has coaching experience from Converse Judson, where she coached for four years and started the Judson softball program.
 
Fowler is a New Braunfels native and a graduate of Smithson Valley High School. She has an associate's degree from Wharton County Junior College, a bachelor's degree from Southwest Texas State University, and a master's degree from Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
Fowler was an NJCAA All-American volleyball player at Wharton. She attended Texas Lutheran for one year and played volleyball and basketball for the Bulldogs. She then transferred to Southwest Texas State.
 
Fowler and her husband Roger have been married 39 years. The Fowlers have three adult daughters: Brittany Dial, Chelsie Lemley, and Lyndsey Teenier. The Fowlers have four grandchildren.
 
Fowler is the daughter of the late Tony and Betty Bonugli. She has four sisters and one brother.