Valerie Jones begins her first season as head coach of the Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers volleyball team.
Jones led the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs volleyball program from 2013 to 2015 where her team qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament two out of the three seasons she coached the team.
The Lady Bulldogs had nine players who were named to the MEAC All-Academic team and one player named All-Conference during her tenure.
Jones spent the previous two seasons as head volleyball coach at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, Ga. During her time at Whitewater, Jones led the Lady Wildcats to back-to-back state championship appearances and captured the Georgia 5-A volleyball state title in 2012.
In 2005, Jones became Kennesaw State University’s first head women’s volleyball coach and served in that position through the 2009 season. Prior to that, she had a successful stint as the women’s athletic coordinator and head volleyball coach at Joliet Junior College from 2002 to 2005. While at Joliet, Jones complied a 44-36 record for a .550 winning percentage. In her second season she guided Joliet to a 25-17 record, a Top-10 ranking, and a berth in the Region IV championship. The following year, she led her team back to the Region IV title match.
Jones’ coaching career also has seen her spend time as an assistant volleyball coach at Northwestern University, the University of California-Davis, and Utah State University. She began her college coaching career in 1996 as a graduate assistant at the University of North Dakota.
In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Jones has spent several years developing athletes throughout the volleyball club ranks. Jones also served as the head coach of the 18-1’s of the Tsunami Volleyball Club. She led her Tsunami team to the USA Girls' Volleyball 18-National Championship, finishing the tournament with a perfect 11-0 mark. She also coached at the Total Complete Athlete Volleyball Club, the Georgia Tempo One Volleyball Club, the Atlanta Boom Volleyball Institute, the Unlimited Volleyball Club and the Tampa Bay Juniors Volleyball Club.
A native of Chicago, Illinois Jones received her Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science and sport studies in 1995 from the University of Tampa and her Master’s in physical education from the University of North Dakota in 1998.
While at the University of Tampa, she was a member of the women’s volleyball and women’s basketball teams. In 1994, she earned 2nd Team All-America volleyball honors and was named to the All-Region volleyball team. That same year, she earned Sunshine State All-Conference honors in women’s volleyball. She is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
