This past season for the Piedmont women’s volleyball team was unpredictable to say the least. After coming off a strong 2023 season, it was announced that Assistant Coach Sara Pasour would not be returning for the following year. The season continued as planned with Jamie McCormack as the only coach. That is, until McCormack revealed to her team later that month that she would no longer be the coach. While the Lady Lions ended up with two coaches to help them finish off their season, it was only temporary.
The team scrambled to find a coach that would be willing to step in for the upcoming season. They had multiple Piedmont coaches offer their support in any way they could, but one man rose to the occasion. Beloved Piedmont women’s soccer Head Coach Timmy McCormack had a special relationship with the volleyball team which made it impossible to sit back and watch the stress this search had caused the team. He even recruited junior outside hitter Katie Hubbard for Jamie McCormack.
“Timmy McCormack was the sole reason for my commitment to Piedmont University. Even through my years here, Timmy was always checking in on me and making sure I was still pleased with my decision,” Katie Hubbard said. “Of course I am incredibly happy that I will be able to finish off my volleyball career with the man that brought me here!”
Yesterday, Coach McCormack called an emergency team meeting with the women’s soccer and volleyball team to reveal to all of them that he will be leaving his role as the head soccer coach to now be the head volleyball coach effective immediately. As soccer and volleyball were in the same season, he knew he could not divide his time evenly between the two sports. There was outrage from the soccer team while the volleyball team had felt like their streak of bad luck was finally over.
“When Coach Timmy told us the news, we were all speechless,” junior soccer player Sierra Judson said. “He’s the reason so many of us come to play soccer here. We have no idea what next season holds, and some players are even considering leaving. It’s hard to imagine this program without him – we’re still trying to process it.”
Timmy McCormack admitted that in the weeks leading up to the announcement he spent hours watching videos on how to coach college volleyball. As he has found great success in his years coaching soccer, there is no doubt the Piedmont women’s volleyball team may have a conference ring in their future. As for the women’s soccer team, the hunt for a new head coach is on with talks of Director of Athletics Jim Peeples needing to step in and coach the team until a replacement is found.
