Former Georgia Tech Standout Lindsey Gray Joins Volleyball Staff
4/28/2009 5:00:00 PM | Volleyball
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The College of Charleston volleyball program and head coach Jason Kepner have announced the addition of Lindsey Gray as an assistant coach on the 2009 coaching staff. She fills one of the two positions vacated by Kaleena Walters and Alexis Lowes, both of whom moved on to other opportunities in the off season.
Gray comes to the College of Charleston following a four-year playing career at Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech. During her time with the Yellow Jackets she was a member of three 20-plus win teams, including a 27-7 team that went 16-0 her freshman season of 2004. That team went on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and defeat Georgia and No. 16 UC Santa Barbara by 3-0 scores before falling to No. 4 Minnesota, 3-2, in the Sweet 16.
“The team and I are excited to have Lindsey join the staff” said Kepner. “She will bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the gym and our program. I am very lucky to add an experienced player and such a great person to help this team push towards another Southern Conference Championship”.
In addition to being a key member of a successful program at Georgia Tech, Gray also accumulated a number of individual awards and personal accomplishments. As a junior in 2006 she earned All-ACC Second Team honors following a season that included Most Improved honors from the Yellow Jackets staff and was named ACC Player of the Week on November 20, 2006.
That week she recorded one of the top individual performances of her career as she notched 25 kills and 20 digs against North Carolina on November 12. She was also named an All-ACC Preseason nomination and collected All-Tournament honors at the Michigan Nike Invitational. She also received the honor of serving as team captain for her junior and senior seasons with the Yellow Jackets.
During her time as a member of the Georgia Tech program, Gray's teams compiled an overall record of 85-41 and 56-26 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Individually, she still appears in the Top-10 of several categories in the Yellow Jackets' record book, including sixth in career service aces (132), is tied for fifth in service aces per game (0.33) and is sixth all-time in single season service aces with 53 in 2006.
Gray has worked to develop her coaching skills throughout her career as she served as a summer camp coach at both Georgia Tech and Emory University from 2005-07 and also served as the head coach of the Tsunami Volleyball Club based out of Atlanta, Ga. since November of 2007. At the camps, she ran instructional sessions for girls ages 12-17 focusing on successful volleyball techniques and also worked with high school teams on technical and team bonding techniques.
As head coach of Tsunami, Gray worked with her staff to organize 3-4 four practices weekly for the 17-power team and demonstrated various skills to illustrate how to perform the specific skills being taught.
Most recently she has worked as Junior Volleyball Merchandiser and Marketing Assistant at the Russell Athletic Corporation based out of Atlanta, Ga. While there, Gray was responsible for continually innovating new products for an ever evolving market and worked hand-in-hand in developing the customized uniform line for the Georgia Tech volleyball program. She also developed a royalty based sponsorship program for a specific volleyball team in the Southeast region.
Gray earned her Bachelor of Science in Management from Georgia Tech in 2008, with certificates in both Marketing and Management, and qualified for the Dean's List in 2006. She attended Georgia Tech on a full five-year athletic scholarship.
She graduated from Olathe East High School in Olathe, Kansas in 2004 with a diploma and Principal's Honors after accumulating a 3.9 Grade Point Average on a 4.0 scale. She qualified for the Principal's Honor Roll all four years while being a two-sport student athlete. She was named U.S. Army Female Student-Athlete award winner and was named to the Kansas All-State Volleyball Team in 2002 and 2003.
“I feel privileged and honored to join to the College of Charleston volleyball staff as well as to be a part of the Southern Conference” said Gray. “This team has worked diligently to get where they are today and I am excited to be on board with such a great group of individuals. I can't wait to see the payoff of the hard work that this group puts in to what they do. It should really show in the upcoming season.”
