Three Inducted into NJCAA Volleyball Hall of Fame
Charlotte, NC – The NJCAA has announced three honorees to be inducted into the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Two coaches and one student-athlete have been enshrined in the honorable 2023 class. Read below for more on Alicia Williams, Bob Vilsoet, and Jazmyn Wheeler.
Alicia Williams | Student-Athlete and Coach | Iowa Western
Alicia Williams began her NJCAA volleyball involvement as a member of the Iowa Western volleyball team. While competing for the Reivers, Williams helped the team capture the school's first-ever team NJCAA national title. During this season, the Reivers held the record for victories in a season with 60. She was an NJCAA All-Academic honoree and an Iowa Western Presidential Scholar. After leaving Iowa Western, Williams found her way back as the assistant coach of the Reivers and eventually made her way to the head coaching position in 2013. She spent nine years as the head coach of the Reiver volleyball team with a 335-44 record. Williams is the only person in Iowa Western volleyball history to be a part of all three national championships. In 2006 she was a player and in the 20-21 and 21-22 seasons she served as head coach.
Williams has led the Reivers to seven top five finishes and four top three finishes at the NJCAA national tournament. Williams has coached 19 NJCAA All-Americans, 48 All-Academic, and 52 players have signed to four-year institutions. Under Williams leadership, the Iowa Western volleyball team made nine NJCAA national tournament appearances with nine ICCAC Region 11 titles, eight-time District Champions, and won back-to-back NJCAA National Championships for the 2020-21 season and the 2021-22 season.
Throughout her career, Williams has been awarded the Heidi Cartisser Coach of the Tournament two times, AVCA Midwest Coach of the Year three times, and ICCAC Region 11 Coach of the Year four times. She also holds the record for the second most victories in Iowa Western history and has the highest winning percentage in Iowa Western history. Williams currently serves as the head coach of NCAA Division I Bradley University.
Bob Vilsoet | Coach | Harper College (IL)
Bob Vilsoet is currently in his 21st season as the head volleyball coach of Harper College. Since he became head coach, the Hawks have had a 559-306 overall record. Under Vilsoet's leadership, Harper has won one NJCAA National Championship, seven Region 4 Championships, eight N4C Conference Championships, with five NJCAA Final Four appearances and seven NJCAA National Tournament appearances.
Vilsoet has coached 67 All-Conference players, 44 All-Region players, 38 Academic All-Americans, 20 All-Americans, 14 All-National Tournament team players, and three All-Region Players of the Year. He has had 20 of his student-athletes go on to play at four-year schools.
Throughout his career, Vilsoet has received District B Coach of the Year seven times, Region IV Coach of the Year six times, and N4C Conference Coach of the Year five times. He has also been awarded AVCA Two-Year Central Region Coach of the Year twice, AVCA National Two-Year College United States Marine Corps Coach of the Year, NJCAA National Championship Heidi Hutchinson Coach of the Tournament, and NJCAA Division III National Championship Coach of the Year.
Jazmyn Wheeler | Student-Athlete | Scottsdale Community College
Jazmyn Wheeler was a member of the Scottsdale Community College volleyball team for one season. During this time, Wheeler received the Tachikara 2019 NJCAA Division II Volleyball Player of the Year, NJCAA Division II Volleyball First-Team All-America honors, AVCA First-Team All-American, NJCAA Division II National Championship MVP, SCC Female Student- Athlete of the Year, and ACCAC Player of the Year. She was also an NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Champion, NJCAA Division II Volleyball West District Champion, and NJCAA Division II Volleyball Region 1 Champion.
In 2019, Wheeler led the Artichokes to claim their first Division II NJCAA Volleyball National Championship title in program history and their fifth NJCAA National Championship overall. During the national title match, Wheeler posted two match-high marks of 26 kills and 34 digs. She ended the season having nine matches with 20-plus kills along with eight matches hitting above 0.400 percent. Throughout her career at Scottsdale, Wheeler had 425 kills, 4.72 kills per set (2nd in NJCAA), 0.307 hitting percentage, 4.42 digs per set, and 5.20 points per set (6th in NJCAA).
After Scottsdale, Wheeler went on to play at Cal Poly Pomona where she received Newcomer of the Year and All-Conference player honors. She then transferred to Augusta University where she was awarded PBC All-Conference Player of the Year and made the All-Tournament team.
