Home coaches Jane Sargent
Questions? Call us! 1-800-645-3226

Coach Profile

Head Coach

Jane Sargent

Jane Sargent

Jane Sargent is the Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Arkansas- Fort Smith.

It’s not easy starting an athletic program from scratch, but Jane Sargent was more than ready to take on the challenge when she was hired as the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith’s first volleyball coach in the spring of 1998.
During the past 23 seasons, the Fort Smith, Ark., native and former Chaffin Junior High coach turned a fledgling program into a regional power and national contender on the junior college level and now has transformed the Lady Lions into a successful NCAA Division II program.
Sargent has guided the Lady Lions, who began competition in the Lone Star Conference in 2019, to a 294-81 overall record, six Heartland Conference regular-season championships, six Heartland Conference Tournament championships, seven appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, two South Central Region Tournament championships, two Elite Eight appearances and one Final Four appearance during their first 11 seasons of NCAA Division II competition.

The veteran coach was been named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year six times.

This past season, Sargent and the Lady Lions won the LSC North Division with a 10-2 conference mark, and finished 11-3 overall with an appearance in the LSC Tournament semifinals.

In 2019, Sargent guided the Lady Lions to a 27-7 overall record and an 17-1 mark in the Lone Star Conference. UAFS became divisional champions and competed in LSC tournament where they lost in the semi-final battle to Angelo State by 3-2. Nevertheless the Lady Lions advanced to NCAA Tournament where they defeated A&M-Commerce in the first round and fell to the regional favorite Regis University.
Prior to the Lady Lions joining the NCAA Division II ranks, Sargent, who has compiled a 696-164 career win-loss record, was ranked among the top 25 in career wins among active NJCAA coaches, many of whom had been coaching twice and even three times as long.
Under Sargent’s watch, the Lady Lions have never had a losing season and won a school-record 54 matches in 2002, when they made the first of six appearances in the NJCAA national tournament. That 2002 team opened the season with 48 consecutive wins – a school record that still stands today.
The Lady Lions, who have averaged 31 wins per season, won eight Bi-State Conference regular-season championships and finished as conference runner-up three times. They played in the NJCAA Region II tournament championship match each of their 11 seasons, winning six championships.
Sargent’s teams were ranked in the NJCAA Division I top 20 the past seven seasons, and the 2008 team has the distinction of being the highest ranked Region II team in the university’s history, peaking at No. 3 in the final regular-season poll.
The Lady Lions, who finished the season ranked in the top 10 each of their last four seasons of junior college competition, finished a program-best national runner-up in the 2008 national tournament and seventh place in the 2005 national tournament and won the consolation championship (ninth place) in the 2006 national tournament.
On their way to a national runner-up finish last season, the Lady Lions posted a 44-4 record and won the Bi-State Conference regular season title and the NJCAA Region II tournament championship.
Sargent has been honored as the Region II Coach of the Year six times and coached four NJCAA First Team All-Americans, two AVCA First Team All-Americans, and two AVCA Second Team All-Americans.

Find a camp near you:

Select your sport and get into camp!
If you need more assistance, just give us a call
at 1-800-645-3226 we would be happy to help!

close