Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton College (Ill.) Athletics Director
Julie Davis has announced the hiring of
Brittany Smith as the head coach of the Thunder volleyball program. Smith replaces
Jennifer King Soderquist, who announced her retirement in February
after 27 years at the helm of the Wheaton volleyball program.
Smith spent the past eight seasons as the head volleyball coach at Taylor University. In her time with the Trojans, Smith compiled a record of 240-94, with Taylor winning 71.8% of its matches in that time. She guided the Trojans to three consecutive appearances in the NAIA National Tournament in the 2009, 2010 and 2011, in addition to five consecutive Crossroads League Championships from 2007-11. She was honored as the Mid-East Region Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in 2010 and is a three-time recepeint of the Crossroads League Coach of the Year award. Her 2009 Taylor squad finished ninth at the NAIA National Championship and she has coach nine NAIA All-Americans, 13 AVCA All-Region honorees and 23 NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Davis says of the hiring of Smith, “Brittany brings passion and commitment to the program and seeks to use her role as a coach to strengthen young women in competitive excellence as well as Christian discipleship. Davis concluded, “Coach Smith is a talented coach and able successor to Jennifer King Soderquist who developed the program to its current level of success.”
Smith is a 2000 graduate of Taylor University with a Bachelor's Degree in History. In 2002 she received her Master's Degree in Social Work from University of Michigan.
Prior to her tenure at Taylor, Smith had been involved in volleyball at both the club and high school levels. Among her posts was as a coach at Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids, Mich, where she helped lead the team to a runner-up finish in the Michigan Class A State Finals.
Smith was a four-year starter for the Taylor volleyball program as an undergraduate. She earned NAIA First Team All-American recognition in 1998 and was a Second Team NAIA All-American in 1999. As a senior she was recognized as a NAIA Scholar-Athlete and won the 1999-2000 Lady Trojan Award, given to Taylor's most outstanding female athlete.
Smith says of her hiring, "I am absolutely delighted to be joining the athletic department at Wheaton College. From the moment I stepped onto campus, it became very clear how intentional Wheaton pursues Christ-like excellence in all things. To join such a successful athletic department, and be able to build on the discipleship that has occurred in the volleyball program is very exciting. I'm grateful to
Julie Davis and the Wheaton administration for this opportunity."
