WILLEY NAMED ASSISTANT COACH ON UTAH STATE VOLLEYBALL STAFF

Cindy Willey, the head women’s volleyball coach at Hamilton High School in

Hamilton, Mont. for the past three years has been hired as an assistant coach at Utah State it was announced on Wednesday by Aggie head coach Burt Fuller.

Willey replaces Matt Johnson who accepted a similar coaching position at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Willey (pronounced WILL-E) was a four-year starter as a middle blocker for the University of Montana, where she earned American Volleyball Coaches’ Association (AVCA) Northwest All-Region honors in 1987 as a senior, as well as being named all-conference three straight seasons.

She is still Montana’s all-time leading blocker with 578 career blocks, and ranks second all-time in hitting percentage (.263), third in kills (1,343), and eighth in digs (1,024).

“I am very excited about the opportunity to work at Utah State and coach collegiate volleyball again,” said Willey.

“It is great to get back to the Division I level and it is the level I want to coach at.

There is nothing like collegiate volleyball.”

Willey began her coaching career in 1988 at Rogers High School in Puyallup, Wash. and followed that by spending three years as the head coach at Hamilton High School before going into private business for eight years.

In 1998, she returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach for one season before returning to Hamilton High School where she has been the head coach the past three seasons.

“Cindy brings tremendous experience and enthusiasm to our program,” said Fuller.

“She attained a very high level as a player and that knowledge and experience will benefit our team greatly.”

Following her collegiate career, Willey was drafted by the Portland Spiker’s of the Professional Volleyball Association and was selected as an Olympic Team alternate for the 1988 U.S. National Team.