Janice Pressley joined the Abilene Christian volleyball staff in March 2025 as an assistant coach. A native of Jacksonville, Fla. and a former Division I volleyball student-athlete, Pressley carries over 20 years of experience in coaching and leading volleyball organizations at the collegiate and club levels.
Pressley steered the Wildcats to a historic campaign in 2025 as they collected 13 victories, their most since 2018. ACU hosted the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at Moody Colisuem, the program's first time staging a conference tournament since 2005, where it secured the fourth seed to match its highest conference tournament seeding in the Division I era. With a five-set win over reigning WAC champion UT Arlington, the Wildcats captured their first WAC Tournament victory and first win in a conference tournament since 2017. Four Wildcats garnered All-Conference honors, the most in the program's DI history. Hannah Gonzalez led the way with All-WAC First Team distinction, becoming the first Wildcat to be named to an All-Conference First Team since 2020-21. Rachel Koss collected All-WAC Second Team recognition, and Brennan Ramirez and Hadlee Welch represented ACU on the All-WAC Freshman Team. It was the first time two Wildcats had been named amongst the top freshmen in the WAC. In the classroom, Gonzalez, Koss, Izabelle Larson and Avery Thaler received Academic All-District accolades from College Sports Communicators.
Pressley joined the ACU volleyball program after serving as executive director and owner of Divine Sports, a youth volleyball organization founded in 2020 and based in Cypress, Texas, outside of Houston. There, she oversaw all business and organizational aspects, including budgeting, scheduling and staffing. Pressley recruited, trained and managed a team of coaches while designing and implementing strategic plans to grow club memberships and boost participation. She coordinated tournaments, camps and clinics for over 150 participants and was also responsible for the organization’s marketing and social media strategy.
From 2020-22, Pressley was associate director of Texas Tornados Volleyball Club, one of the state’s premiere youth volleyball organizations. She created, registered and coordinated competitive play schedules for each of the club’s 19 teams, communicating them to over 30 coaches and 300 families. Pressley designed the organization’s College Coaches Program to assist student-athletes in their recruitment to play volleyball at the collegiate level. She supported a number of players that signed with Division I, II and III programs.
Pressley served as the assistant club director at Willowbrook Volleyball from 2012-20, where she developed practice schedules for all ages and competition levels. She developed the curriculum for the program’s summer camps and clinics for seven years while crafting a coaching curriculum to best support student-athletes. Pressley got her start in managing club volleyball in 2005 as assistant club director and regional teams director at Jacksonville Juniors Volleyball Association, where she worked until 2012. She guided coaches on how to lead their teams and planned practices for a range of ages and competition levels. Pressley’s responsibilities also included developing and operating curriculum for the organization’s summer camps and clinics while hiring and coordinating camp staff.
Pressley’s collegiate coaching career began in 2007 as an assistant coach at the University of North Florida. She was on the Ospreys’ staff for two years, training and recruiting the team’s middle blockers and outside hitters while coordinating team travel logistics and itineraries and equipment management.
From 2009-11, Pressley was an assistant coach at Florida State College at Jacksonville, working alongside the Manta Rays’ middle blockers and outside hitters. She assisted in leading the team to a division championship and an NJCAA Tournament berth while training multiple student-athletes to All-American and All-Conference nominations.
Pressley was a two-year letterwinner at Georgia Southern University from 2003-04, where she earned a Bachelor of General Studies degree. Her niece, Yossiana (Pressley) Coughlin, played volleyball at Baylor University from 2017-21, where she was a five-time unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection and the 2019 AVCA National Player of the Year.
