For Coach Steve Wilcosky, volleyball isn’t just his job, it’s his passion. The NSU Women’s Volleyball head coach is a sports veteran and an inspiration to his players. A coach at NSU for seven years, Wilcosky began his athletic career playing volleyball as a two-time All-County performer at Palmetto High School in Miami, Florida. In college, he played football at Guilford College, where he played for four years, winning a conference championship. Wilcosky graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine.
Before coming to NSU, Wilcosky started his coaching career as an assistant volleyball coach at Greensboro College in North Carolina. During his five successful years at Greensboro, the team captured a pair of USA South Conference titles in 2000 and 2004. He also helped develop two conference Players of the Year, three Freshmen of the Year, 20 All-Conference performers and an Honorable Mention All-American.
As head coach of the NSU Women’s Volleyball team, Coach Wilcosky, has racked up an impressive record. In his years leading the volleyball program, he has become the coach with the most wins in school history, winning 96 out of 188 games in seven seasons.
Under Wilcosky’s leadership, the Sharks have set multiple program records, including most wins in a season since joining the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II, fewest losses, best won/loss percentage, longest winning streak, longest games winning streak and most consecutive sweeps. They also received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll for the first time in program history.
For his players, Wilcosky inspires them to strive for excellence. In 2009, under his coaching, former NSU student Carly Perschnick became the first player in program history to earn Sunshine State Conference (SSC) and AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year honors. She received an honorable mention for All American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and was listed on the SSC All-Freshman Team that same year.
“Competitive, humorous, and strong hearted” is how NSU junior and player Samantha High would describe Wilcosky. Sophomore Sarah Shifflett also thinks her coach is “competitive, crazy, and passionate”, and freshmen Sydney Cook called him “competitive, intense and willing.”
High, Shiflett and Cook said the best qualities that Wilcosky teaches them are how to be competitive and strong willed.
“He brings a lot of competition into our practices,” High said.
