Photo courtesy of BHS
The new volleyball coach at Blacksburg High School brings college experience to the sidelines.
Nicole Willis takes over the program after serving last season as the director of volleyball operations at Clemson University. She brings over a decade of coaching experience across the youth, middle school, high school varsity, club national, collegiate, and private training levels.
A graduate from East Carolina University in the spring of 2014, she was an All-Conference right side hitter during her playing career for the Pirates. She also trained with the U.S. Olympic National Team, gaining firsthand exposure to elite-level preparation and performance standards.
She also served as the Ravenscroft School Head Varsity Volleyball Coach in 2019 and served as the Director of Volleyball Operations at her alma mater, ECU, in 2014.
The Raliegh, North Carolina native recently moved to Blacksburg after accepting a position with the Virginia Tech athletic department.
“Volleyball has been a staple in my life from an early age. I find joy contributing to my local community by pouring into the student-athletes in my community through the sport of volleyball – and Blacksburg High is an opportunity to pour,” she said.
Willis said volleyball changed her life on a personal level.
“Life-long relationships, cultural exposure, health and wellness, I could go on. Volleyball changed my life and my personal philosophy as a coach and an educator is to pour into and teach the whole person through the sport of volleyball. I’m excited to bring that to Blacksburg,” she said.
Willis played at Broughton High School where she was the first high school volleyball All-American.
Initially, she was recruited out of high school to play at LSU, where she played for one year before transferring to ECU.
“Long term, my hope is to build a volleyball pipeline (in Blacksburg),” Willis said, “connecting athletes of younger ages to volleyball in the Blacksburg area, ultimately creating a feeder program into Blacksburg High. There is an opportunity to increase the available opportunities for volleyball in the NRV area and increase a love for this game.”
Willis started coaching club volleyball at NC Elite in 2008 when she was 16 as an assistant and continued coaching throughout her club and college years.
Her coaching accomplishments include leading Triangle 17 Black (N.C.) to a nationally ranked Top 30 season, a third place finish at the Big South Qualifier with a 17 Open qualification, and a Top 25 finish at the Triple Crown National Invitational.
Outside the gym, Nicole works as a Senior Learning Specialist at Virginia Tech.
