- Jill
- Wilson
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- Volleyball Head Coach
Jill Lytle Wilson was named the head coach of the Virginia Tech volleyball program on January 12, 2017, and enters her second year in Blacksburg.
Seasons at VT | Eighth Season |
Overall Record | 84-141 (.373) Games: 225 |
ACC Record | 29-115 (.201) Games: 144 |
vs. Non-Conference | 55-26 (.679) Games: 81 |
vs. Ranked Teams | 2-24 (.077) Games: 26 |
Record Home | 44-59 (.427) Games: 103 |
Record Away | 20-69 (.225) Games: 89 |
Record Neutral | 20-13 (.606) Games: 33 |
Career Record | 84-141 (.373) Games: 225 |
In her first season as the head coach of the Hokies in 2017, Wilson guided Jaila Tolbert to second-team All-ACC after she owned the highest hitting percentage in the conference for non-middle blockers. Tolbert, a right-side hitter, hit more than .300 in 20 matches and earned Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) all-state honors.
Wilson also was key in the development of Kaity Smith, who was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team, as well as the VaSID Freshman of the Year. Smith started the season breaking a school record, putting down 30 kills in her debut – a program first.
Picking up two wins over Virginia in her first season, Wilson contributed to a full point in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash. Wilson led Tech to two non-conference tournament titles her opening season, winning the Pepsi Panther Invitational and A-State Invitational. At the A-State Invitational, the Hokies took down Arkansas State and SMU, two teams that won 20-plus matches and earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
Wilson joined the Hokies after an extremely successful run on the bench at LSU where, as the recruiting coordinator, she signed five top-30 recruiting classes according to PrepVolleyball.com. She also helped lead the Tigers to six NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2009 SEC Championship, as well as 25-win seasons in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The Tigers averaged over 20 wins per season during her time on the LSU staff.
“We are excited to welcome Jill and her husband, Jared, to Virginia Tech,” Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said after the announcement of her hiring. “Jill served as an integral component of an LSU program that became a perennial NCAA tournament team during her tenure in the highly-competitive Southeastern Conference. We heard from some of the most respected coaches in the country about Jill’s many talents, and their sentiments were very consistent that the school that recruited her away from her alma mater was going to be fortunate to have Jill lead their volleyball program.”
Along with her reputation as a staunch recruiter, Wilson helped produce 15 All-SEC selections, four American Volleyball Coaches Association All-South Region First Team picks and an AVCA First Team All-American and SEC Player of the Year in middle blocker Brittnee Cooper.
No stranger to the ACC, Wilson was an assistant at North Carolina from 2002-04 before serving as the top assistant at Wake Forest in 2006. She coached two All-Americans, an ACC Player of the Year and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2002 regular season ACC Championship and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance. With the Demon Deacons, Wilson trained outside and right side hitters along with assisting in recruiting prospective student-athletes and organizing all team travel.
Wilson broke into coaching in 2001 as a graduate assistant coach at Tennessee-Martin. The Skyhawks finished the campaign with a 24-7 record and won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship.
A four-year starter at outside hitter at LSU from 1997-2000, Wilson ranked sixth in the SEC with 23 service aces during her senior campaign that also saw the Tigers appear in the 2000 SEC Tournament finals.
Wilson exemplified the Virginia Tech spirit of Ut Prosim while she was a student-athlete. She was the Tigers' representative on the women's at-large SEC Good Works Team in 1999-00 and she was named the LSU Student-Athlete Volunteer of the Year in 2000.
The Richmond, Texas, native graduated from LSU with a B.S. in business administration with concentration in pre-law. While at UT-Martin, Wilson pursued graduate studies in health and human performance.