Thursday, January 22, 2015

UIS names Salinas new volleyball coach

Trey Salinas is the new head volleyball coach at the University of Illinois Springfield.

He has been an assistant men’s and women’s volleyball coach at NCAA Division II Belmont Abbey in North Carolina for three years, and this is his the first head coaching job for the 27-year-old Salinas. He starts Feb. 2.

“I will meet the team and start the recruiting process,” Salinas said Wednesday. “I will go through a needs assessment on what we’re going to need for future recruiting classes and what we need for the 2015 class.”

Salinas replaces Noelle Rooke, who resigned after three years to return to her native California and join her husband, Max Rooke, a Pepperdine women’s soccer assistant coach.

Salinas inherits a team that had a 10-18 overall record and 2-16 Great Lakes Valley Conference mark last fall and is expected to return 13 players.

“I’m excited to change the culture of the volleyball program and hopefully start a tradition of having a successful program,” Salinas said.

Salinas will earn $42,000. He was one of 62 applicants.

This story appeared online in The State Journal-Register on January 21, 2015.

Read the entire article here.