New assistant volleyball coach, Elisa Joris is celebrating a milestone this year in addition to her new position with USI.

As of this year, Joris has played volleyball for 20 years. During that time she has participated in the sport from many different areas including college volleyball, professional beach volleyball and coaching.

Joris split her college career between Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University, where she had a lot of success as an athlete.

The coaching she received during her college career is something which will prepare Joris for her new role.

“I had two coaches in college and being able to remember what they did to get me to open up and perform on the court will prepare me,” Joris said.

She said her own college career will help her understand how to form relationships with the girls.

Right now Joris said her unfamiliarity with the girls is an area she will focus on.

To start, Joris will have to sit back and understand the systems before fully throwing herself in, she said.

The decision for Joris to come to USI was one that came with a bit of a checklist.

“I had a list of things I was looking for in my next job,” she said. “I wanted a good coach who wanted to stay a long time, a winning program and the ability to have facilities.”

For Joris, USI met all of those.  Her previous head coach told her Head Coach Leah Mercer was good to work for and she had seen the campus and facilities when Ohio Dominican visited during a preseason game.

“I already told Mercer I plan on going to regionals this year, at least,” Joris said.

Now that she is fully settled in her new apartment, Joris is completely focused on the team. Joris said she is ready to be in the office, get hands on with the team and to start the season.

Part of what makes it so easy for her to focus on the team and set her sights high for the season is her readiness to win.

“I’m an ultra competitive person,” Joris said.

She is excited to come into a program that has a winning culture and tradition already surrounding it. Joris said the girls already have a competitive spirit. She said coming into a team like that makes it easier because the girls do not have to be trained to be competitive.

Joris is not sure about the fan base surrounding the team since the season has not started yet, but she hopes there are a lot of fans who want to come out and support them.

“I love the excited fans,” Joris said. “The team really feeds off of that.”