East Central Community College announced last week that they are launching a new NJCAA-sanctioned team sport, Women’s Volleyball, bringing the total number of sports offered by ECCC to 13. The team is scheduled to take the court for its inaugural season in the fall of 2025.
ECCC Director of Athletics Paul Nixon said that the reaction to last week’s announcement has been glowing.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive. The ECCC Board of Trustees is completely behind it. We’ve had a number of local high school programs in our five-county district that have started competing here in the past few years and they’ve been asking if East Central was going to have volleyball,” Nixon said. “Now that we’ve made that announcement, we’ve got positive responses from a number of local high schools in our district.”
With the addition of Lady Warriors Volleyball team, the number of teams in the MACCC would bump up to eight. Teams include Pearl River, Jones, Meridian, Northeast Mississippi, Itawamba, Northwest Mississippi, and Southwest Mississippi. Both Jones and Meridian Community Colleges will launch their inaugural season of volleyball this fall, while Southwest Mississippi will join ECCC in launching in 2025.
The team’s home court will be located in Founders Gymnasium, which is currently under renovation as part of the four-project Deeply Rooted, Future Focused capital campaign.
"This is the perfect time for East Central to start a varsity women's volleyball program and begin competing against our fellow MACCC members. Volleyball is a fast-paced, very exciting sport that allows fans to really get into the matches," said Nixon. "Founders Gym is going to be an outstanding venue right in the heart of campus, which will provide all our students with another great activity to enhance campus life in the fall, starting in 2025.”
According to Nixon, the search for the first varsity Head Coach of Women’s Volleyball is now in full swing. Once they’ve found their coach, the program will move forward.
“We plan to have the head coach begin this summer, giving them a full year to develop the schedule and work on building a roster,” said Jones. “They’ll have a chance to go through the Fall season, where they’ll get to see the local teams compete, recruit, and start to build a roster.”
