Millicent Van Norden

Millicent Van Norden is the former Head Volleyball Coach at the University of New Orleans.

When the University of New Orleans volleyball team was looking to fill a void atop the coaching staff prior to the 2014 season (7th Season), the Privateers were looking for an individual with a specific set of skills. The ideal candidate had to feature skill development, recruiting acumen, motivational skills and leadership to rebuild a program that had recently fallen onto hard times. In short, UNO was looking for Millicent Van Norden.

Most recently in 2019, Van Norden guided the Privateers back to the Southland Tournament and had two All-Southland selections in Ehize Omoghibo and Lucie Pokorna. Omoghibo became the second Privateer under Van Norden's tenure to earn a tryout with the USA Volleyball Team.

In six seasons at the helm of the program, Van Norden has turned the program into a competitor in the Southland Conference. The 2015 run saw the Privateers pull off the third-biggest turnaround in the country in wins and losses with a 19-16 overall record and a trip to the conference tournament for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 academic year. UNO has seen improvements all over the court since Van Norden’s arrival, resulting in five-year highs in kills (1,567) kills per set (12.4), attack percentage (.208) assists (1,475), assists per set (11.7), digs (1,652) and blocks (196.5) in 2015.

The beach volleyball program has also continued to improve each year. In 2019, the Privateers won 15 matches, seven more than in 2018. They also had a championship appearance in the first Southland Showcase. Van Norden helped guide a pair of AVCA Top Flight award winners in '19 when Veronica Corcoran and Rachel Kuhn earned those honors. The Privateers also received votes in the final AVCA poll.

In her 18 years as a collegiate head coach, Van Norden has compiled 246 career victories with 61 coming on the Lakefront. Her hard work on the hardwood in New Orleans has not gone unnoticed as she was the recipient of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s 2015 Coach of the Year.

Van Norden’s student-athletes also received recognition at the state and conference level, including Blessing Dunn who was named first-team all-state and Louisiana Freshman of the Year by the LSWA while also claiming honorable-mention All-SLC distinction. In addition, Celeste Ramirez was named second-team all-state and KeKe Irby was tabbed Louisiana Newcomer of the Year. Also Kaitlyn Grice was named to the Southland Conference Honorable Mention Team in 2017 and Second Team All-Southland and All-LSWA in 2018. Ehize Omoghibo was named Southland Newcomer of the Year in '18.

While her teams have made tremendous strides on the hardwood, Van Norden’s student-athletes flourished in the classroom well with 17 individuals claiming Southland Conference Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll distinction in her first two seasons, while Ramirez garnered second-team SLC All-Academic Team recognition in 2015. Grice was also named to the Southland Conference All-Academic Second Team last season.

Van Norden took over the Privateer program prior to the 2014 season after previously serving as the head coach at Maryland-Eastern Shores in 2013, the assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012, head coach at Coppin State in 2011, head coach at South Carolina State from 2007-2010, North Carolina A&T from 2004-2006 and head coach at Alcorn State from 2001-2003.

At her most recent stop, Van Norden helped then-senior Jingqiao Li to MEAC All-Academic and third team All-MEAC recognition. Prior to that, she served as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh where the Panthers qualified for the Big East tournament in its final season in the league before joining the ACC.

Before serving a one-season stint at Coppin State, Van Norden had her longest run with one program with South Carolina State. While leading the team, she earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors and won her first conference championship to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament. Three of her four seasons with the Bulldogs resulted in a conference record of .500 or better.

Van Norden won her first MEAC Coach of the Year accolade in her second season at North Carolina A&T, guiding the team to a 9-1 league record. The team posted a .793 winning percent in MEAC play during her tenure while finishing the regular season with a winning record twice.

Van Norden brought 12 years of head coaching experience after leading Maryland-Eastern Shores, Coppin State, South Carolina State, North Carolina A&T and Alcorn State, collecting two MEAC Coach of the Year honors in that span. In 2010, she guided South Carolina State to a 6-2 league record and a tournament run that concluded with the conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament. In 2008, Van Norden turned the Bulldogs’ program around with a winning record in league action to claim her second conference coach of the year accolade. Her first award came in her previous stint at North Carolina A&T, where the Aggies posted a 9-1 record in conference play during the 2005 season.

Van Norden’s name is sprinkled throughout the Alcorn State record book, both for her successes as a player and a coach. In three seasons at the helm of her alma matter, Van Norden guided the team to its two most successful seasons and has the highest winning percentage in program history at .628. After leading the team to a program-record 29 victories in 2002, the Braves went 28-3 the following season for a school-best .903 winning percentage.

As a student-athlete, she posted the top-two single season totals for total blocks and her season-high is ahead of the next person by nearly 100 stuffs. Van Norden ended her career with school-record 597 total blocks and nearly averaged two per set to hold a program-best 1.91 average. She left campus with the single season record in solo blocks (111), blocks assisted (157), total blocks (268) and blocks per set (2.80). She was named twice an all-SWAC team recipient and named to the 1999 all-tournament team. A duel-sport athlete, Van Norden holds the conference and school record for points in a heptathlon.

She earned both her bachelor's in education and a master's degree in secondary education from Alcorn State in 2000 and 2003, respectively. While a student, Van Norden was Alcorn’s national SAAC Representative and the President of the college’s SAAC two years respectively. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

She is a member of USA Volleyball and the AVCA.

The former Millicent Sylvan is married to Allen Van Norden, and the couple resides in LaPlace, La., with their two sons, Cain (8) and Loki (7).