BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's volleyball team added two new hires to the coaching staff. Melissa (Missy) Owens is the new assistant coach, and Bijonae Jones will be taking on the role of graduate assistant.

"To say I am excited would be putting it mildly," says LU head coach Jordan Lay. "I truly believe that we have put together a dynamic staff with balancing personalities and experiences. Missy and Bijonae are completely all-in when it comes to the development of our program and our student-athletes here at Lamar. Lamar Volleyball is very lucky to have Missy and Bijonae joining our up and coming program."

Missy Owens played volleyball for four years at the collegiate level. She started her career at California State University, Long Beach, and played in Long Beach for two and a half years before going to Texas Tech. She was a starter for both years at Texas Tech, and she was also voted team captain for those years. After graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences from Texas Tech, Missy stayed to be the post-graduate intern for the Texas Tech volleyball team.

"Missy has competed and has been successful at the highest level of collegiate athletics," said Lay. "She brings an elevated mindset to our program when it comes to training, competing, and recruiting at the elite level. Missy also has demonstrated a keen eye for evaluating recruits, opponents, and even our own team. Missy will primarily be working with our setters and our offense."

While at Texas Tech, Missy helped the team to a post season appearance in 2017, their first post-season appearance in 16 years. She also led her team to the finals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) tournament. Missy received two Big 12 all-conference team selections and was on the NIVC All-Tournament team in 2017. She was also named the 2018 Big 12 Setter of the Year.

Bijonae Jones played volleyball at Wofford College for four years, playing under LU's head coach, Jordan Lay. She graduated from Wofford with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish in spring 2019. Bijonae will now be pursuing her Master of Education in Teacher Leadership at Lamar University, while serving as the graduate assistant coach on the volleyball team.

"Bijonae has steadily developed herself from a fantastic leader as a player, into a great up-and-coming coach," stated Lay. "She has the unique ability to connect with current student-athletes and to push them to be their best. Bijonae will be working with our ball control players as well as pin attackers."

In her collegiate volleyball career, Bijonae captained her team for three years. She was all over the stat sheet in her career. She had 558 kills, 782 digs, 71 blocks, 71 service aces, and 58 assists. While she was succeeding on the court, she was also killing it in the classroom. Bijonae was named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll three times.

Lamar is excited to welcome both of these women to the program and cannot wait to see the contribution that each of them will have on the volleyball team.