MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Alabama State University head volleyball coach
Penny Lucas-White has announced the addition of two assistant coaches to the ASU staff.
Valerie Armstrong and Michelle Osunbor come to ASU after coaching at Vernon College in Vernon, Texas. Armstrong served as the head coach the past four seasons and led the Chaparrals' to a 32-7 record and the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Championship in 2012. Vernon College finished the season ranked 15
th in the nation in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
When she took over the program in 2009, the previous team had a 7-28 record and over the next four seasons, turned the program into the conference champions, bettering the previous seasons' record along the way.
She had 16 players receive All-Conference accolades and had six All-Region honorees, including one player named the region MVP. She coached eight Academic All Conference players with four of those being named Academic All Americans. Each of her teams had at least a 2.8 team grade point average with last year's team earning a 3.19 gpa.
She spent two years coaching at Colby Community College in Colby, Kan., and spent a season as an assistant coach at College of the Southwest in Hobbs, N.M.
“I am extremely pleased with the experience Valerie brings to the program after being such a successful collegiate head coach,” Head Coach
Penny Lucas-White said. “The experience that she gained in building a championship program in a short amount of time will only help this young ASU team as we strive to become the SWAC champions.”
Armstrong received her master's from Concordia University in coaching and athletic administration in 2012. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Business from Oklahoma Panhandle State University (2007) and her Associate's degree from Eastern Wyoming College (2005).
“I am thrilled to become a part of the Alabama State volleyball program,” Armstrong said. “This is such a young team with a lot of potential and I am looking forward to helping them grow into a championship program.”
Osunbor also comes to ASU from Vernon College, where she spent the past season as Armstrong's assistant. She worked with the Vernon's blocking schemes in helping lead them to a conference championship.
Osunbor went to Vernon after a collegiate career playing for Brian Gimmillaro at Long Beach State as a middle blocker. Gimmillaro has won three NCAA National Championships at Long Beach and during Osunbor's four seasons, the 49er's won the Big West Conference Championship in 2008, 2009 and 2011 and made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
She was a two-time Big West Player of the Week honoree and was LBSU's block leader in both 2009 and 2010.
“This is very exciting for me,” Osunbor said. “I get to continue to work with Coach Armstrong and I am looking forward to working with Coach White. I am eager to teach this young team some of the things I have learned from my playing experience and to help them become the champions they want to be.”
“Michelle played at such a high level of division I volleyball at Long Beach State, I think her experiences of playing at that level will translate into the level of play we want our team to get to,” White said.
