Maris Below joined the Jaguar volleyball staff as assistant coach in April 2021.
In her first season with the program, Below helped lead the USA to its first-ever Sun Belt Conference regular-season title, first SBC Tournament championship and first NCAA postseason appearance. South Alabama set a new program record for SBC wins (15) in a season in 2021, and its 25 overall wins were the most by a Jaguar team since the 1987 squad won 26 matches. USA’s 25 wins ranked as the third-most in a season in program history.
The Jags’ put together a 13-game win streak down the stretch of the regular season and into the SBC postseason, which marked the longest since the 1987 team won 15 consecutive matches. South Alabama led the SBC in opponent hitting percentage (.145), opponent assists per set (10.49), opponent kills per set (11.29), ranked second in opponent service aces per set (1.04) and blocks per set (2.42), and third in hitting percentage (.237), assists per set (12.00) and kills per set (13.04).
Four Jaguars earned all-conference honors – Kailey Keeble was named first-team all-SBC, while Hannah Maddux, Maddie Soboleski and Kennedy Wallace were each voted second-team all-SBC – which marked the most in a single-season in program history. Keeble was also named the SBC Championship Most Valuable Player, and earned all-tournament honors along with Niki Capizzi.
Below was a three-year captain and four-year letterwinner at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she earned all-MAC honorable mention as a senior at outside hitter in 2016 after recording 269 kills and 282 digs. Ortiz was an assistant coach at Miami for the first three years of Below’s career. After finishing her career at Miami, Below played professionally in Austria for Steelvolleys Linz-Steg in 2017-18.
Below participated in the Community Olympic Development Program as a coach in 2015, and also coached Borderline Volleyball Club in 2016-17.
