Former USF Volleyball Standout Shepardson Ready to Lead Bulls
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, JAN. 14, 2020 – Eighteen years after her final set as a USF student-athlete,
Jolene Shepardson is ready to bring excellence back to a program that's hungry for success in The American and beyond.
Shepardson happily took the helm as head coach of USF volleyball last week and didn't waste any time setting the tone for a promising, new era in Bulls history when she met with the local media Sunday afternoon.
"It's coming back with a full vengeance," said Shepardson of USF volleyball. "I really have a lot of pride in this program and I want to see it excel."
Watching her team celebrate big victories was something Shepardson did often during her previous run with the Bulls from 2000-02. With the former Jolene Patton on the roster, USF posted a combined 79-22 record and hung some prestigious banners inside The Corral.
One season after appearing the Division II National Championship match as a Tampa Spartan, Shepardson joined a surging USF program that became a Conference USA co-champion in the 2000 regular season and competed in the NCAA tournament.
Following her redshirt year with the Bulls, Shepardson ranked second on USF's 2001 squad (21-9) in kills (313), kills per game (3.29), hitting attempts (742) and service aces (0.39 per game).
Shepardson's final season as a student-athlete for the Bulls featured lots more production and another notable postseason trip. USF reached 30 wins with a straight-set victory over Florida State in the first round of the NCAA tournament after earning another share of the Conference USA regular-season title.
Sharing memories of those unforgettable moments, and the commitment it took to make them happen, could help Shepardson motivate USF student-athletes to achieve similar success down the road. Moving forward, the current Bulls know they'll have the full support of their new head coach who took a very caring approach into their first meeting together Monday.
"Once we build up the culture, they're gonna have as much pride as I did as a student-athlete," Shepardson said to reporters Sunday. "They're gonna do it themselves. They're gonna perform and they're gonna love being a Bull."
Standing tall at 6 feet, the former outside hitter brims with confidence that has continuously grown in the sport since Shepardson graduated from USF with a degree in psychology.
After one season of playing PT Pro Liga volleyball in Indonesia (2004), Shepardson spent the next five years building her coaching/recruiting resume at three different universities and Front Range Volleyball Club in Colorado (2006-08).
Shepardson then returned to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2010 as an assistant coach for Virginia Tech, which hadn't been to the first round before her arrival. From there, she took the reins at Cal State Bakersfield, a team that didn't taste the sweetness of victory in 2010 (0-31) and won eight times in her first season (2011). Fourteen wins followed in 2012 and Bakersfield was a force during Shepardson's final season with the Roadrunners, a 21-victory campaign in 2013.
Shepardson spent the past six seasons as the head coach at San Jose State, another program that regained its swagger with the former Gatorade Florida High School Player of the Year calling the shots. Under her guidance, the Spartans enjoyed consecutive winning seasons (2017-18) for the first time in 17 years and generated double-digit victory totals in each of her final five seasons with the program.
Once USF Vice President of Athletics
Michael Kelly was looking for a new leader of USF volleyball, Shepardson was all about bringing her family of five to Tampa for an exciting, new chapter of their lives.
No selling points from Kelly were needed, just a chance for Shepardson to return to her hometown and alma mater.
"I get teary-eyed driving around campus," she said. It's a wonderful experience, wonderful opportunity to be back here in Tampa and at USF."
While speaking to the media, Shepardson marveled at momentum the athletic department and USF as a whole have built since her previous time in Bulls country. Competing in a solid volleyball conference like The American also is a big plus for Shepardson and USF, along with the talent-rich Bay area for recruiting.
"We have everything that we need and we're just gonna be better and better," she said. "I'm grateful for this opportunity and I can't be more happy for the growth in the department and the growth in the campus. When I was here, it was wonderful but now there's even more awesome assets to the program."
Having a head coach who knows what it takes for sustained success at USF could drive the Bulls' volleyball stock up even more in the future. Until that first set of the 2020 season, Shepardson will invest her energy in creating an atmosphere Bulls can truly be proud of and thrive in.
"I've watched (USF) over the years and I can't wait to get in the gym to help these young women be the best student-athletes they can be," she said. "It was an incredible experience for me. I know they're really enjoying their experience, but it's gonna be even better when we win."
About USF Volleyball
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USF volleyball has an all-time record of 893-678-2, and has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances (1993, '95, '96, '97, '98, '00, '03). The Bulls appeared in the NIVC in 2018, the program's first postseason trip since 2002. The USF volleyball program is now led by new head coach Jolene Shepardson. The Tampa native returns to USF 18 years after helping lead the Bulls volleyball program to its last conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance as a student-athlete in 2002.
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