Ole Miss volleyball head coach Steven McRoberts announced the first member of his coaching staff Monday. Angela Mooney, a native of Lubbock, Texas, will serve as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator.
Mooney comes to Ole Miss with 10 years of experience as an assistant coach. She spent the past season as an assistant coach at South Dakota State.
Prior to her stop at SDSU, Mooney was an assistant at UTEP in El Paso, Texas, for nine years, where she played an instrumental role for the Miners in recruiting, training middle blockers, academics, community outreach and coordinating the UTEP volleyball camps.
In her nine years on the bench at UTEP, Mooney tutored four all-conference performers, including three in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Only three UTEP players earned all-conference recognition in the first 30 years of the program, and all three Miners who received all-freshman team accolades came under her tenure.
Mooney played a pivotal role in helping the Miners’ defense into one of the best blocking teams in the nation. Unranked in blocks per set before her arrival, Mooney guided the Miners to a national ranking of 28th in blocks per set in 2009, and coached a trio of nationally ranked blockers in 2010, including an AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention selection.
“As I started to look at putting my staff together at Ole Miss, I began to think of all the things that I will need (from an assistant) to get this program to the highest level,” McRoberts said. “That’s why I am really excited to add Angela to our staff here. She will bring a lot of knowledge and energy to our program. I have watched her grow from her playing days at Texas Tech, and I have coached against her when she was at UTEP. She is a hard worker and always has a positive outlook on things. She will help us achieve our goals here at Ole Miss, and she will be a great mentor for these young ladies. In addition to being our recruiting coordinator, Angela will also be involved in the day to day training of our players on the court.”
Mooney also brings extensive coaching experience at the club level. She coached for the Texas Power Volleyball Club from 2001-04. In her inaugural season as head coach, Texas Power won the Sun Country Regional Championship and qualified for the 2004 Junior Olympic National Tournament. She also served as an assistant for Texas Power the previous three years, helping the team make appearances at the AAU national tournament in 2001 and the National Invitational in 2002.
In 2005, Mooney teamed with the El Paso Sunspots Volleyball Club as the head coach of their top 18s team. The Sunspots’ 18-Heat won the Sun Country Regional Championship, qualifying for the 2005 Junior Olympic National Tournament.
In 2009, Mooney captured her fourth regional championship in five years as head coach of the Sunspots 18s, and again returned to the Junior Olympic National Tournament held in Miami, Fla. She also served as the co-head coach of the 2007 Sun Country High Performance team that competed in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
A 2004 graduate of Texas Tech with a degree in human development and family studies, Mooney joined the coaching ranks after a prolific career with the Red Raiders from 2000-03. She recorded 930 kills, 348 digs and 229 blocks in her career, and still holds a number of hitting and blocking records. She also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors in 2003.
Mooney and her husband, David Herman, welcomed their first child, Jacob Herman, in June 2011.
— Ole Miss Sports Information
