Winning one match, then maybe two or three was foremost on the mind of Susan Shifflett when she became the coach of the startup Langley High School girls varsity volleyball team back in 1999.
Looking ahead to any future triumphs, nevertheless 500 career victories way down the road, was never in the cards.
Jump ahead 24 seasons. Shifflett is still coaching the Langley Saxons, and she won her 500th career match this fall.
The milestone came in the first round of the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state tournament over Deep Run. Langley (27-3 this season) went on to win two more matches and its third state championship under Shifflett, now with 502 career wins and still going strong. Her teams have finished second in the state twice.
This fall, Langley also won the Liberty District tournament and finished second in the region tourney.
Shifflett has no plans to retire from coaching anytime soon, so 600 career victories could be next. With 502 wins, she currently ranks fourth on the VHSL’s list for all-time career wins by a girls volleyball coach.
She also is the longest tenured public-school girls volleyball coach in Northern Virginia.
“It was never a goal to look ahead and think about 100 wins or anything like that, and it’s still not ,” Shifflett said. “I never think about the number of wins. Someone has to remind me. Coaching Langley has always been so much fun.”
Langley was successful right from the start under Shifflett. Her 1999 team won the Northern Region championship and advanced to the state tournament, ending with a lopsided first-round loss.
“Compared to the teams in the other parts of the state, we weren’t very good back then,” Shifflett said.
By the 2007 season, the Saxons improved significantly, enough to finish second in the state.
Through the 2023 campaign, Langley has won six region titles with five seconds, finished first in countless district tournaments and played in the state tournament 11 times.
Shifflett has coached multiple players who have gone on to play college volleyball, many at the Division I level. Her daughter, Megan, played at Penn State and helped the team win three national championships. Megan Shifflett is the current head women’s coach at George Mason University.
Former Langley player Elysse Richardson has coached in college and former Saxon player Michelle Bredehoft is an assistant with Langley.
Susan Shifflett played volleyball at Radnor High School in Wayne, Pa., then in college at Penn State.
