Sophie Windover has been named the new head volleyball coach at Wilmington College.
Windover has spent the last two seasons at fellow Ohio Athletic Conference member Heidelberg University, assisting long-time head coach Jason Miller in all facets of the program.
She especially focused on the recruiting process, helping bring in large classes during each of her years there. The Student Princes finished with a 21-8 record her first season on staff and appeared in the top 25 national poll.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sophie to Wilmington College to lead our volleyball program,” WC athletic director Terry Rupert said. “Her experience as an assistant at Heidelberg and outgoing personality make her uniquely qualified to vault our program to the next level. We can’t wait for her to get started.”
In addition to recruiting, Windover organized team travel, assisted in skill development by running more one-on-one workouts and provided academic mentoring to improve classroom improvement. Heidelberg’s team grade point average was higher than 3.50 each of her two years with the program.
The WC volleyball program has been downtrodden for the past two decades. The Quakers are 95-466 in all matches, a 17 percent winning mark. In the OAC, Wilmington has won 5 of 196 matches since 2000.
During that span, Wilmington was 15-15 in 2008 and 13-17 in 2011. The record for the remaining years is 67-434, a 13 percent winning mark.
Prior to Heidelberg, Windover spent three years in the admissions office at Belhaven University Atlanta. She attended recruiting events, guided students through the admission process and collaborated with various departments to organization campus events.
Windover also has spent time as a club coach since 2015, both in Tiffin and Atlanta, Ga. She’s helped mentor club players to earn spots on collegiate teams as well as earning bids to the national championship.
A graduate of Emmanuel College (Ga.), Windover was the program’s first volleyball signee. She was a four-year member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program.
“I am very excited to have this opportunity as the women’s volleyball head coach at Wilmington College!” Windover said. “I have great expectations and all the confidence that this is a really special place to be. I am excited to grow along with this program in the coming years.”
Windover begins her Wilmington tenure on July 1.
