Jaclynn Wilson

**Jaclynn Wilson** is in her eighth season as the University of Tennessee at Martin head volleyball coach in 2022. She was officially named the seventh head coach in Skyhawk history on May 11, 2015.

Wilson was named to the prestigious 2015 "Thirty Under 30" list compiled by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She was one of just four Division-I head coaches to earn a spot on that list.

In 2022, Wilson continued the program’s steady ascent and completed the transformation to a bona fide league contender. After the Skyhawks were picked to finish last in the Ohio Valley Conference’s preseason polls in each of her first three seasons (2015-17), UT Martin captured its first OVC regular season championship since 2002 - leading to OVC Coach of the Year accolades for Wilson. The Skyhawks went 15-3 against league foes, equaling the school record for OVC victories alongside the 2002 squad. UT Martin earned its first-ever postseason victory as a NCAA Division I member (since 1992) as the Skyhawks became only the fifth different OVC school to compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

UT Martin ranked in the top-40 in the NCAA Division I volleyball ranks in total attacks (4,795, sixth), digs (2,000, 18th), service aces (210, 19th), kills (1,687, 26th), and assists (1,546, 36th) in 2022. The Skyhawks also ranked in the top-four in their NCAA Division I history in kills (1,687, second), assists (1,546, third), attacks (4,795, fourth), attack percentage (.209, fourth) and digs (2,000, fourth).

Additionally, UT Martin energized Skyhawk Fieldhouse throughout the record-setting 2022 campaign. A total of 1,213 fans congregated to watch UT Martin defeat SIUE in the opening round of the OVC Championship tournament, which was the highest attended match in the history of the venue. Overall, the Skyhawks set a new program record with the best average home attendance (437 per match) in school history in 2022 - topping the OVC in total attendance (6,555).

In her eight years at UT Martin, Wilson has presided over 24 OVC Players of the Week and nine all-conference honorees. That list partially includes Jemima Idemudia, who was just the fourth player in program history to garner All-OVC first team accolades in back-to-back seasons (2016-17) and Brooke Gyori, who became only the second player in school history to win OVC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2018. The Skyhawks boasted a pair of All-OVC second team performers (Gintare Mackeviciute, Logan Wallick) for the first time in school history during the 2019 campaign and added two more honorees (Karen Scanlon, first team; Olivia Saunders, second team) in 2021. This past season, Wilson boasted a pair of All-OVC first teamers in Scanlon and Wallick - marking just the fifth time in school history (first time since 2011) that a pair of UT Martin teammates were on the league's first team.

In 2021, UT Martin dialed up a .611 winning percentage against OVC foes - then the highest mark for the program since 2002. The Skyhawks made their third OVC Championship tournament appearance in the last four years, securing the No. 4 seed for the event (at the time, their highest since 2011). Overall, UT Martin earned 15 wins, which was then the most for the program in the last decade.

During the shortened 2020-21 season, the Skyhawks got off to a 5-1 start in OVC play for just the second time in program history - joining the 2002 squad in that exclusive company. Wallick captured Preseason All-OVC accolades and shattered a school record for most single-match kills (17) without an error in the Feb. 7 season-opening victory at Eastern Kentucky.

Off the court, UT Martin posted a 3.59 Grade Point Average for the 2020-21 academic year, receiving a United States Marine Corps/American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award. In beach volleyball, the Skyhawks also won their first ever OVC Team Academic Achievement Award, producing the highest percentage of student-athletes with at least a 3.25 GPA out of any other conference school in their sport.

The Skyhawk volleyball program continued its upward ascent in 2019, finishing with a 9-7 OVC record to mark the program's first winning season in league play since 2011. UT Martin soared into the postseason with eight victories in its final 11 conference matches, finishing in the top-five of the OVC standings for just the second time in the last 16 years. Highlights included a four-set victory at OVC regular season champion Jacksonville State on Sept. 28 (the Gamecocks' only conference home loss) and sweeping road trips at Belmont/Tennessee State (Oct. 25-26) and Eastern Illinois/SIUE (Nov. 15-16) for the first time in school history.

Wilson helped guide the Skyhawks back to the OVC Championship tournament in 2018, making an appearance in that event for the first time since 2012. UT Martin opened league play with a win over eventual league champion Murray State and later racked up a four-match winning streak down the stretch in October. The Skyhawks concluded the season with a 7-9 mark in conference play and a 14-17 overall record, which were the most wins in the Wilson Era and the program's most victories since the 2011 campaign.

In 2017, the Skyhawks began their OVC slate with a perfect 3-0 record, marking only the third time in school history that UT Martin began OVC action with three consecutive wins and first time since 2002.

Wilson's debut season at UT Martin included a road victory at a 22-win Ole Miss squad, which was the Skyhawks' first win over a Southeastern Conference opponent since 2011.

Wilson has been an integral part of UT Martin debuting a beach volleyball program, which began during the 2016-17 school year and has developed into an OVC powerhouse. The Skyhawks are the only team in OVC history to sweep the league's regular season and tournament championships in back-to-back seasons (2022 and 2023), receiving the OVC's first ever automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament in 2022 before a return trip in 2023.

Wilson has overseen a complete transformation of the UT Martin program, literally increasing her season win total each season. After winning seven combined matches in their first three years of existence (including an 0-15 mark in the debut season), the Skyhawks have gone 54-24 over the last three seasons with a 22-6 mark in OVC play.

UT Martin completely dominated during the 2023 beach volleyball campaign - setting an OVC record for most victories (27) in a season. The Skyhawks became the first OVC program to complete an undefeated season in league play (10-0), winning 48 of their 50 head-to-head matchups along the way. UT Martin knocked off its first two ranked opponents in school history and earned votes in the AVCA top-20 poll for the first time ever. The Skyhawks placed three pairs on the five-pair All-OVC first team (including 2023 OVC Championship Most Valuable Pair Kambree Lucas and Olivia O'Keefe) and landed another pair on the All-OVC second team. For their efforts, Wilson and associate head coach Julia Noe were crowned as OVC Coaching Staff of the Year for the second time in the past three seasons.

In 2022, the Skyhawk beach volleyball squad reeled off a school record 17 victories - the same amount of wins the program had in their first four years combined. UT Martin swept both OVC championships, sharing the league’s regular season title with Austin Peay before going 3-0 in the OVC Championship tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Skyhawks won four OVC Pair of the Week accolades in the span of five weeks while nine different representatives combined for 11 All-OVC postseason awards, including the program’s first ever OVC Freshman of the Year in Dylan Mott. In addition, UT Martin landed four players on the OVC All-Tournament team, including Most Valuable Pair Kayla Carrell/Addison Conley. The team of Carrell/Conley also earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top Flight Award as they were one of only 62 pairs across NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and NAIA levels to garner the prestigious award.

In addition, the Skyhawks also won the OVC Team Academic Achievement Award for the second straight season in 2022. Receiving the honor that is presented annually in each Conference-sponsored sport to the member institution’s team with the greatest percentage of its eligible student-athletes who achieved a 3.25 Grade Point Average or higher, UT Martin posted a 3.49 cumulative GPA in 2022 and a 3.59 cumulative GPA in 2021.

The Skyhawks posted a 10-7 overall record during the shortened 2021 season and advanced to the first-ever OVC Championship finals, which were held on the UT Martin campus. The Skyhawks swept both OVC Pair of the Week mentions during the two-week regular season as eight different UT Martin representatives combined to register 10 overall OVC postseason accolades. Wilson and Noe were voted as OVC Coaching Staff of the Year by their peers.

The Skyhawks built a new state-of-the-art facility on campus and hosted their first-ever home beach volleyball match on March 13, 2019 - a double dual against Southern Miss.

Wilson amassed a 118-29 record (.803 winning percentage) and won 92 percent of her conference games (46-4) at Columbus State from 2011-14. She guided the Cougars to the last two Ohio Community College Athletic Conference championships, completing a perfect 14-0 season in 2014 after the squad went 12-0 in league play in 2013 on her way to back-to-back OCCAC Coach of the Year accolades. Overall, the Cougars reached the top-10 in the national standings in each of her final three seasons in Columbus.

Wilson led Columbus State to a 34-4 record in 2014, a Region E district championship and the program’s first-ever national Final Four appearance. She earned Region E District Coach of the Year honors while coaching 17 all-conference players in her four-year tenure with the Cougars. Included in that group is Stephanie Ruffing (2014 OCCAC Player of the Year, District E Player of the Year, first team All-American) and Ellie Cain (first team All-OCCAC, first team All-Region 12, NJCAA All-National Tournament team).

In 2013, Wilson tallied a career-high 35 victories against only six losses. That followed a 27-9 mark (10-2 OCCAC) in 2012 and a 22-10 record (10-2 OCCAC) in 2011 – her debut season. Her 2012 and 2013 squads earned Region E district runner-up finishes.

Before taking over as head coach at Columbus State, Wilson spent one season as an assistant for the Cougars under head coach Kevin Burch. She also spent time as an adjunct professor for the sports and exercise science department at Columbus State.

Wilson played collegiately at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. She suffered a shoulder injury following her freshman season (2004) which was thought to be career-ending but she remarkably returned to the court in 2009 at Columbus State, where she was a star for a Cougar team that won the OCCAC title, the Region XII championship and reached the No. 7 spot at the national tournament under head coach Scott Nichols.

At the prep level, Wilson was a four-year letterwinner at Jonathan Alder High School, where she earned first team all-Ohio accolades. She was a two-time all-district honoree, a three-time all-county recipient and was the county and district player of the year as a senior in 2003. In addition to her volleyball prowess, she was also an All-Madison County honoree in both basketball and softball, becoming the first athlete in JAHS history to be named to three district All-Star contests.

Following her collegiate career, Wilson played professionally as an outside hitter and libero for the Arizona Sizzle of the USA Premier Volleyball League. In addition to her duties at Columbus State, she also coached the Buckeye Volleyball Club from 2008-14. She also has coached at elite camps at the University of Illinois and at the University of Tennessee.

A native of Plain City, Ohio, Wilson happily married Paul Wilson in July 2017 and the couple has two daughters. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in communications and journalism from Coastal Carolina in 2008. She then graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master’s in sports and exercise science/athletic administration from Concordia University-Irvine in 2013.