BATON ROUGE – Jill Lytle Wilson, LSU volleyball’s assistant coach that has been a part of 124 victories and served as the program’s recruiting coordinator over the past six seasons, has been promoted to associate head coach announced Thursday by head coach Fran Flory.
Lytle Wilson returned to her alma mater in 2007 after spending time at Tennessee-Martin, North Carolina and Wake Forest. During her tenure under Flory, the Tigers have collected five SEC Western Division titles highlighted by the 2009 SEC overall championship, the program’s first since 1991. LSU also has secured four NCAA Tournament berths sparked by three 25-win seasons in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
“Jill is more than deserving of being named associate head coach,” Flory said. “She has added so much to our program over these past six years. Her dedication and loyalty to our players, our program and our university are unparalleled. Jill’s diligence as our recruiting coordinator has attracted some amazing student athletes into our LSU volleyball family. I’m very proud of her and appreciative of all of her efforts to make our program one of the best in the country.”
LSU has had six players surpass 1,000 career kills and five players amass 1,000 career digs since 2007. The Tigers have had seven players garner All-SEC First-Team selections, while Elena Martinez collected the SEC’s Defense Player of the Year award in 2007 and 2008. Lytle Wilson also has been instrumental in bringing three consecutive Top 30 recruiting classes ranked by PrepVolleyball.com.
“I’m humbled and extremely grateful to Fran and our administration for the opportunity to be the associate head coach of a program that means so much to me,” Lytle Wilson said. “When I first stepped onto campus as a student-athlete 16 years ago, I knew immediately that LSU was an incredible place filled with great passion and tradition. To have the opportunity to coach here the last six years and represented my alma mater is truly a privilege of a lifetime. Fran has been a tremendous mentor for me, and I am honored to continue to learn from her every day. The people of LSU, our athletic department, our staff and our student athletes are what make LSU an amazing family to be part of. I’m so excited to work hard with each of them to carry on the success and raise our program to new heights.”
Lytle Wilson started her coaching career at LSU as a student assistant in 2001 while earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She was a four-year starter at outside hitter from 1997-2000 and ranked sixth in the SEC with 23 service aces during her senior campaign. LSU also appeared in the 2000 SEC Tournament finals.
One of the hardest workers on her team and considered one of the most determined players Flory has ever coached, Lytle Wilson was a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. She also was the program’s representative on the women’s at-large SEC Good Works Team in 1999-2000. Her good works didn’t go unnoticed as Lytle Wilson was named the LSU Student-Athlete Volunteer of the Year in 2000.
The Tigers will bring back eight letterwinners in 2013 highlighted by Desiree Elliott, a two-time All-SEC selection. LSU’s seven-year run atop the SEC Western Division came to a close in 2012. The streak was the second-longest in SEC history only behind Florida’s 14-year atop the SEC Eastern Division from 1995-2008.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger volleyball, visit www.lsusports.net/volleyball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsuvolleyball along with @lsuvolleyball and @lsucoachfran on Twitter.