Press Release courtesy of Valdosta Athletics
A new era is set to begin for Valdosta State volleyball in 2018, as Valdosta State Athletic Director Herb Reinhard announced Kaleigh Zoucha as the new head volleyball coach at Valdosta State University.
Zoucha (pronounced ZOO-ha), a former player and assistant coach at volleyball powerhouse Nebraska Kearney, brings a winning track record to Valdosta State. After having competed in the NCAA Tournament during each of her four years as a student-athlete, she made a seamless transition to the coaching staff and helped lead the Lopers to a 152-24 record during her five years as an assistant coach. Throughout that same stretch, the Lopers finished eighth, fifth, 15th, fifth, and ninth in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll.
“I am very excited about having Kaleigh join our staff as our new head volleyball coach,” said Reinhard. “Kaleigh has wonderful experience as a player and assistant coach at one of the top programs in the country and played for and coached under one of the most respected volleyball coaches in the country. The state of Nebraska is an area where really good volleyball is played at the high school and college level so Kaleigh has played and coached at high level programs. I look forward to her building on the great foundation that Coach Swan created and making our program a consistent NCAA playoff contender.”
A native of Lincoln, Neb., Zoucha comes from a coaching family, as her father, Mike, served as head baseball coach at Nebraska-Lincoln and most recently as an assistant at Oklahoma. Her younger brother, Taylor, currently serves as an assistant baseball coach at Nebraska Kearney. While playing as a defensive specialist at UNK, she became one of just 29 players in school history to record 1,000 career digs. In addition, her team posted a record of 131-13 during her four seasons as a student-athlete and finished 12th, fifth, ninth, and third in the final AVCA rankings.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead Valdosta State volleyball as the head coach,” said Zoucha. “While I will always appreciate and love my time at Nebraska Kearney, I am beyond excited to embrace this new role and start working with the student-athletes. I’d like to thank Mr. Reinhard, as well as Jennifer Grubbs, Mason Barfield, and the rest of the search committee for allowing me to join this extremely successful athletic department and providing me the chance to continue building on the success of the VSU volleyball program both on and off the court. My family and I cannot wait to become a part of Blazer Nation.”
Zoucha married former Nebraska Kearney football player Kalvin Zoucha, and they have a daughter, Annie, who will be one year old in April.
An official introductory press conference has been scheduled for Monday, April 2nd, at 2:00 p.m. in the Student Union Theater on the main campus of Valdosta State University. The event is open for all to attend and will be streamed live at www.vstateblazers.com.
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