After a two-year hiatus, Dana Wagner returned to the Lady Chiefs’ sidelines last season. The 2009-2010 season marks her 11th year overall leading Waubonsee’s basketball program. Wagner’s 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 teams both finished second in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) and reached the NJCAA Region IV semi-finals. The 2004-2005 squad went 19-12 overall and the following year her team’s season ended on a heartbreaking, last-second playoff loss to national power Carl Sandburg College.     

Under Wagner’s guidance, fifteen players have been named first team All-Skyway Conference, including two-time All-Region IV First Team selection Shar James. She also directed the volleyball program for two seasons and was the head coach of the Lady Chiefs’ softball team for 11 years, helping guide the 2007 team to the ISCC title and a record-breaking 33-13 season. Wagner was named the ISCC’s Female Coach of the Year for 2005-06 after her basketball and softball teams each finished near the top of the league.

Wagner graduated in 1992 from Kaneland High School where she was an All-Little Seven Conference selection in basketball. In 1997 she earned her Physical Education degree from Aurora University after starring on the court for the Spartans. Wagner was recently inducted into the Spartans’ Athletic Hall of Fame and remains Aurora’s all-time leading scorer with 1,693 points. Wagner was a three-time Division III All-American and was tabbed All-Central Region three times. She was also selected the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference (NIIC) Player of the Year three times, making the All-NIIC team all four years. Wagner was also named Aurora’s Female Athlete of the Year an unprecedented three times and her No. 40 jersey was retired by Aurora upon the conclusion of her last game as a Spartan. 

In addition to her coaching duties, Wagner oversees several facets of the Chiefs’ Athletic Department as the full-time Assistant Athletic Manager. She also runs Waubonsee’s intramural programs, handles all of the school’s on-campus athletic events and serves as facilities coordinator for the college’s gymnasium, Erickson Hall. In case all of that wasn’t enough for the Aurora resident, she and husband Tim juggle three kids, sons Cal (16) and Reece (3), and one-year-old daughter Sydney.

Lexi Pioli joined the Waubonsee coaching staff last season as an assistant coach. She brings a wealth of basketball knowledge to the program as a former player. As a matter of fact, Coach Pioli will often suit up for practices to provide the Lady Chiefs with a hands-on coaching style. Pioli has also run a summer recreation camp in Oglesby for the past four years and coached summer league games at Spring Valley Hall High School.        

Pioli graduated from LaSalle-Peru High School in 2004 where she was a three-year varsity starter in basketball and played softball all four years. She earned All-Conference and All-Area First Team honors for the Cavaliers her senior year on the court. Pioli went on to play basketball at nearby Aurora University for four years. She graduated from Aurora in 2008 with a degree in Accounting. Pioli currently works for New Balance in Geneva and resides in Aurora.