NCAA National Champion, three-time Big 12 Player of the Year, and two-time AVCA All-American Haley Eckerman joined the Lamar University volleyball coaching staff in February 2019. She'll serve as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for the program.
"I am ecstatic to add Haley to my staff," said head coach
Michelle Kuester. "She brings an impressive amount of knowledge of the sport and has multiple recruiting connections in the state of Texas. She played at the highest collegiate level and spent time in multiple international systems. I fully anticipate her helping develop all aspects of our system and take charge of our recruiting efforts."
Eckerman has drawn national attention since her days of playing prep volleyball in eighth grade and earning ESPN (2010) and Prep Volleyball (2008, 2009, 2010) All-American, earning her a starting spot on the United States Girls Youth National Team and the Junior Women's National Team. Her prep prowess turned into a scholarship offer from the University of Texas where Eckerman continued to shine.
At Texas Eckerman was nothing short of phenomenal, earning a starting spot as the outside hitter in every game her freshman year. She played a pivotal role in the team winning the 2012 NCAA Division I National Championship, the first volleyball NCAA championship for Texas in 20 years, and was named ESPN National Freshman of the Year, AVCA and Volleyball Freshman of the Year, and First Team Big 12 that season. She was the 2012 ESPN Player of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and an AVCA All-American in 2012 and 2013. Eckerman was the ninth player in Texas history to score 500 or more kills in a single season and finished her career with 1335 kills, 577 digs, and 134.0 total blocks.
Eckerman translated that stellar collegiate career into a professional after her senior, playing for Iowa Elite Club in South Korea, Italy, Russia, Azerbaijan, and back in the United States in Puerto Rico. She returned to the U.S. in 2018 for her May graduation ceremony where she walked for her Bachelor's in Applied Learning and Development which she earned in summer 2017.
Eckerman started her coaching career as the head of a club team, Team Dream, this past summer.
Team Dream became the first all African-American team to win the USA Volleyball Open National Championship in the 89 times the event has taken place.
At the beginning of the 2018 school year when she accepted a job at Waterloo West as their head coach - the rival school of her high school alma mater, Waterloo East.
