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Inside Hokie Sports
When those in volleyball circles caught wind
of Virginia Tech’s hiring of Jill Wilson as the
head volleyball coach, they termed it an “ace.”
That hiring took place in January, and in the
time since then, she put together a staff, held
“get-to-know-you” meetings with her players,
oversaw offseason workouts, recruited the next
generation of players and began preseason
practices. Now within a matter of days, Wilson
will coach in her first match.
The former longtime LSU assistant brings a
resume of success to her position—she served
as an assistant on six NCAA tournament teams
in her 10 seasons in Baton Rouge. She takes
over a team that lost stalwarts Lindsey Owens
and Amanda McKinzie, but the rest of the
roster returns, giving Wilson a solid nucleus,
as she seeks to move the Hokies up the ACC
ladder.
A few days before preseason practices
started, Wilson sat down and answered an
array of questions, including those pertaining
to the coaching transition, the keys for success
this season, and her goals for the upcoming
campaign.
Q: How excited are you about starting
practice and about your first match on
Aug. 25?
JW:
“Excited would probably be an
understatement. It’s really been a great time
this summer to kind of plan not just the
logistics of a season, but the culture and the
feeling of what our theme is going to be for the
year and planning that out. The team has been
here since the start of summer II, and they’re
excited. They have a new strength training
program, and the culture is already starting to
change quite a bit. We’ve talked about being
adventurous and being bold and risky, so
that’s going to be a big part of our preseason
practice—going for things and not being afraid
and just driving to really take that next step. So
yeah, I’m excited.”
Q: What have you learned about this
team since taking over the job in
January?
JW:
“A lot. It’s been great to get to know each
of them. They’re very, very intelligent. They
are eager and anxious and open-minded,
which has been really fun for our staff because
every new thing we’ve thrown at them, they’ve
bought in. They’ve taken it and given the theme
life, and I really appreciate that. I’m excited for
the season because, when you have a group that
is that open-minded, they’re going to be able to
take big steps.”
Q: Though the program lost four-time
All-ACC honoree Lindsey Owens, it does
return six seniors on the roster. How
nice is it to have that type of senior
leadership going into your first season?
JW:
“Very great because the senior class … we
have some really strong personalities and some
very intelligent, driven women that have big
goals academically. Some of them are going to
be doctors, so it’s a great group to kind of be
able to put a lot of faith in for this season and
figure out what role each of them can play on
and off the court. We have to have the locker
room leader. We have to have the court leader.
We have to have the leader that is going to drive
when the team is tired. So I think being able
to figure out what role each of those seniors
20
17
VOLLEYBALL
PREVIEW
JILL
WILSON
VOLLEYBALL
PROGRAM
ready for a
NEW ERA
under new
head coach
Jill Wilson and her assistant
coaches have spent the past
eight months getting to know
Tech’s players, recruiting and
gearing up for the 2017 season
by
Lance Dozier
Special to Inside Hokie Sports