Nike Volleyball Camp at Prairie View A&M University

Cheri Lindsay is going into her second season as the head coach of the Lady Panthers Volleyball team.

In her first full season as head coach with the Lady Panthers, Lindsay changed the culture of the program. She created an environment where student-athletes and staff became a family and fell in love with the game of volleyball while still competing at a high level in the SWAC. At the helm of the Panther Volleyball program in 2023, Lindsay led the team to a 19-13 overall record and a 13-3 conference record. The Lady Panthers finished the regular season in second place and made it to the semifinals in the playoffs. Under Lindsay, the Panther offense saw six Lady Panthers finish the season with over 100 kills, including four with over 200. Among those with offensive success were, Kylee Owens who was named first team all-conference and Janyah Henderson, who was named first team as well as Freshman of the year. Junior, Leah Lawson, led the conference in assists with 1,055, earning her second team recognition in the SWAC.

The lady panther volleyball team saw vast improvements defensively after ranking at the bottom of the SWAC in 2022 in digs per set. In 2023, Lindsay and defensive Darcie Kaiser guided the defense to average 14.72 digs per set, the third-best mark in the SWAC. Leading the way was libero Jacky Nino, ranking sixth in the conference with her 3.75 digs per set.

Lindsay is no stranger to flipping programs. Prior to her return to her Prairie View, where Lindsay was a former PVAMU standout volleyball player, Lindsay served at the third head volleyball coach in program history at East Central University (Ada, OK). Her first year at East Central University, Lindsay inherited a program that was 2-29 and finished last in the Great American Conference with a 1-15 record the previous season. In the 2020 season, Lindsay led the team to their first playoff berth since 2013 while at East Central.

In 2021, there were more signs of the program turning around as the Tigers achieved their first winning season in school history, set the most wins in a single season, and went on a nine-match winning streak for the longest in program history, finishing with a 15-14 overall record. The previous record was 14 wins in 2009 and 2011. In the 2022 season, ECU volleyball tied their record for most wins in a season with 15 and claimed the No. 5 seed at the Great American Conference Championship tournament. Lindsay was named the Oklahoma Coaches Association "coach of the year" for the 2021-22 season. The Tigers had three players named All conference players Thalianette Garcia, Alejandra Delgado, and Emma Strickland. The Tigers also saw Thalianette Garcia claim All-GAC Second Team honors, the first for ECU since 2014 and just the second time an ECU player was named to the second team. The team also performed well in the classroom, with five earning a spot on the GAC All-Academic Team and four on the D2ADA All-Academic Team. Lindsay spent the last two seasons as the first assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Seattle University, a NCAA Division I team in the Western Athletic Conference. During her time with the Redhawks, the team advanced to the WAC Tournament both years, saw one All-WAC Second Team pick, the 2018 WAC Setter of the Year, and nine, Academic All-GAC selections. Before Seattle, Lindsay was the head coach and assistant athletic director at Bethany College (Lindsborg, Kan.) for three seasons. She was also an adjunct professor in the school of Schools and Athletics at Bethany.

From 2012-14, Lindsay served as an assistant coach at Tiffin University in Ohio. Additional coaching experience includes serving as the head coach for the U15 and U17 Black Swamp Volleyball Club teams. Lindsay got her coaching start at Prairie View A&M University where she served as a student coach from 2011-12. She played volleyball for the Panthers from 2008-11. While at PVAMU Lindsay racked up a 1300 career kills and over 1000k digs earner her three First team all-conference honors. A Denver, Colo., native, Lindsay earned a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in psychology from Prairie View A&M University in 2011, and a Master's in Business Administration from Tiffin University in 2013. Lindsay is currently pursuing her PhD in Sports Psychology.

My name is Coach Kaiser and I am going into my second year coaching collegiate volleyball. I played for 2 years at Sheridan College and then transferred to finish playing for 2 more years at East Central University. I have a Bachelor's in Mathematics and currently working on my Masters in Sports Administration. I was a very versatile player having played every position on the court but I was primarily a pin hitter. I am very big on technique and IQ when it comes to coaching.

James Finley enters his seventh season as head coach of the Seattle University volleyball team in 2019. In six seasons at the helm of the Redhawks' program, Finley holds a 80-99 (.471) record, while compiling a career record of 368-252 (.586) in 18 seasons.

The 2018 campaign saw Finley lead the Redhawks to their sixth consecutive WAC Tournament appearance while Shae Harris claimed WAC Setter of the Year and All-WAC Second Team honors for the second consecutive season and became just the player in program history, second in the Div. I era, to eclipse the 2,500 career assists, ultimately finishing with 2,739 for her career.

In 2017, Finley coached junior Shae Harris to earn WAC Setter of the Year honors. Harris set a new program record with 62 digs in a match - achieved twice. The team also set DI records with 77 single-match kills (at Utah Valley, Oct. 21, 2017) and 75 single-match assists (at Utah Valley, Oct. 21, 2017). Four players earned All-WAC honors including one first team selection, one second team selection and two WAC All-Freshman Team picks.

In 2016, the Redhawks earned their second WAC Freshman of the Year in outside hitter Katarina Marinkovic.

In 2015, SU had its best season yet under Finley, going 18-11 overall, including 6-2 at home. The Redhawks posted their third straight winning league record, finishing 9-5 in WAC play, good for third place. Led by First Team All-WAC selection Martina Samadan, SU finished third in the league standings. Samadan went on to give Finley his first Redhawk player turned pro, signing a professional contract in August of 2016.

In 2014, he led the Redhawks to their second consecutive winning conference season and to the title match of the WAC Tournament with victories over Utah Valley and WAC regular season champion Missouri-Kansas City. Martina Samadan earned First Team All-WAC honors and joined Matea Mamic on the WAC All-Tournament Team, while Jelena Vujcin earned a spot on the WAC All-Newcomer Team. The team also excelled academically, with eight members of the 2014 roster receiving WAC All-Academic recognition.

Taking over in February 2013, Finley helped the Redhawks to 13 victories in the fall 2013 season, including a 9-7 record within the Western Athletic Conference. Seattle U advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Volleyball Tournament. Thanks to Finley's coaching, Iris Ivanis was named WAC Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-WAC, while Martina Samadan earned Second Team All-WAC and All-WAC Tournament honors.

Finley served as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University for eight years, compiling a 151-116 (.566) record from 2005 to 2012. He led the Rams to four conference championship matches, including the 2005 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament title that advanced VCU into the NCAA Tournament.

In 2012, Finley oversaw the team's transition to the Atlantic-10 Conference, where the Rams posted a 10-4 league record as part of a 25-6 overall mark, finishing third in the 12-team league before falling in the conference tournament semifinals. VCU excelled both on the court and in the classroom, finishing third in the country in blocking (3.10 blocks per set) and combining for a 3.2 team grade point average.

Finley went to VCU from Arizona Western College, where he served as head coach from 2001 to 2005, compiling a 137-37 (.787) record over four seasons. The team was ranked in the top 10 nationally all four years using players he recruited from the United States, Brazil, and Europe. He had been the assistant coach at UTEP for two seasons before heading to Arizona Western.

A high school volleyball coach from 1992 to 1999, Finley has run his own volleyball camps since 1995. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Sul Ross State University in 1983 and has been an instructor at Texas A&M University, Arizona Western College, and El Paso Community College.