Jarrett announces Grace Wilson as assistant volleyball coach at YSU

Grace Wilson will join the Youngstown State volleyball team as an assistant coach alongside first-year head coach Riley Jarrett.

Wilson is a native of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and she comes to Youngstown after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Cedarville University in southwest Ohio.

“I am excited to welcome Grace to our Penguin volleyball program,” Jarrett said. “From the moment I started having conversations with Grace, I could tell how passionate she was about building relationships with her players and helping to instill a positive culture. Grace having Growing up nearby, she knows Ohio well and I can’t wait to see her jump into our program right away.”

Cedarville earned a berth in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament in 2023, and outside hitter Madelyn Hensley had a breakout season. She was named G-MAC Freshman of the Year and first-team all-conference, averaging 3.61 kills per set while hitting .283. She went on to be named the NCCAA Midwest Region Player of the Year, an AVCA Midwest Region Freshman and a first-team All-American. The Lady Jackets also participated in the G-MAC Tournament in 2022.

Prior to his time at Cedarville, Wilson served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons with the Division III volleyball program at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. Three Rose-Hulman players were named first to the All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. team in both of his seasons, and Wilson also coached the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Prior to his college coaching career, Wilson coached IGNITE Volleyball Club 13 in Twinsburg, Ohio, for two seasons. She also coached seventh-grade girls volleyball in her hometown at Chagrin Falls (Ohio) Middle School in 2018.

Wilson began her collegiate playing career at Lakeland Community College from 2014 to 2016 and then joined Hiram College for her final two seasons. Its head coach in 2017 was Aline Scott, who became Youngstown State’s head coach from 2018-23.

Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Hiram in 2018 and a master’s degree in sports management from Indiana State University in 2021.