Michelle Cole

Michelle Cole is the DI Head Volleyball Coach at Seattle University.

On Feb. 6, 2020, Michelle Cole was named the fourth head volleyball coach since the program's revival in 1999. With several years of coaching experience at the Division I level, including stints at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and South Dakota, with her most recent stop at The Citadel.

Cole joined the volleyball program at The Citadel prior to the 2018 season and was part of a coaching staff that recorded the most overall victories in that time period. During her time in Charleston, she focused primarily on the team's outside hitters and defense, and worked with two-time All-Southern Conference Team selection Sharlissa De Jesus, who became the program's fifth player to reach 1,000 career kills.

Cole spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons in Texas A&M Corpus Christi working with both the Islanders' indoor and beach teams. In her first season with the club, Cole helped guide the indoor squad to regular-season and tournament Southland Conference titles and ultimately a berth in the NCAA Tournament. During her stint, she tutored Brittany Gilpin thorough a position switch, from middle blocker to outside blocker. Gilpin subsequently garnered several postseason accolades including Southland Conference Player of the Year, an All-Southland Conference selection and First Team AVCA All-Region and TAMUCC Student-Athlete of the Year. Cole also coached Southland Conference Libero of the Year and First Team All-Southland Conference selection, Kate Klepetka.

Prior to her time in Texas, Cole broke into the Division I ranks in 2014 as she joined the staff at South Dakota. There, Cole's focus was on scouting and recruiting, while also assisting administrative duties such as organizing team travel and summer camps. Under her supervision, the Coyotes' collective grade point average rose from 3.50 to 3.75.

Cole began her coaching career in 2011 as an assistant at Division III Occidental College in California, before assuming the reigns of the Tigers the following season. In her lone campaign as the Tigers' head coach, she led the program to a 19-10 record with an appearance in the conference tournament. Cole then had a one-year stint with Azusa Pacific, helping the Cougars to a 2013 National Christian Colleges Athletic Association championship appearance. From 2009-13, Cole served as club director and coach for The Elite Volleyball Club, based in Chatsworth, Calif.

The native of Temecula, Calif., is a 2001 graduate of Texas A&M and four-year starter for the Aggies where she helped the program to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1999 and 2001. As a senior, Cole earned First Team All-Big 12 and AVCA All-Region honors. She finished her collegiate career with 1,037 kills, 17th-overall, and 1,373 digs, sixth-overall, in addition to an array of records, before playing professionally in Spain.