Submitted photo / YSU Athletics. New YSU head coach Riley Jarrett (center) interacts with current and returning Penguins players during a practice at the Beeghly Center earlier this month.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ever since the completion of her playing career at Mount Union, Riley Jarrett has wanted to be a college volleyball head coach.

After first getting her start as a graduate assistant at Division II West Liberty (WV) in 2018, Jarrett’s coaching journey included a brief stop at Division III Penn State Behrend in 2020 as an assistant coach before she returned to West Liberty to take over the head coaching job later that year.

“I knew I wanted my own program, just because I’m really passionate about volleyball,” Jarrett said. “I was 24 at the time. I definitely knew I had a lot to learn, but I knew I wanted to be a head coach and this was a great opportunity that I had at the time. So throughout my career there, I really tried to build something special up at West Liberty.”

Now, with Division II and Division III coaching stints under her belt, Jarrett has reached the pinnacle — Division I, as Youngstown State named Jarrett has its 11th head volleyball coach in program history earlier this month.

Jarrett replaces Aline Scott, who stepped down at the end of February to pursue other opportunities outside of coaching.

“I’m really excited for the opportunity. I keep reassuring everyone that it’s going to be a positive change,” Jarrett said in a phone interview Friday. “Being able to get to the Division I side, that was huge. Just talking to everyone in Youngstown, that’s what sold me. (Athletic director) Ron Strollo is amazing. He’s done a lot for YSU athletics. Jennifer Tymkew, who is the volleyball supervisor, showed me the amount of support and the kinds of resources that I would have — it definitely sold me on the job.”

When she first toured YSU during her interview, Jarrett said she was blown away by the campus. As a Lorain native, Jarrett added that being able to return to northeast Ohio and be closer to home was an added bonus.

During her four seasons at West Liberty, Jarrett had the highest career winning percentage of any coach in program history, while leading the Hilltoppers to their first ever two appearances in the Division II NCAA tournament.

“In Riley, we found someone who brings the energy and love for the game that our student-athletes want and need to move this program in the competitive direction that we all desire,” Strollo said in a press release. “She has successful head coaching experience at West Liberty, and she also has ties to the region even before her coaching career, being born and raised near Cleveland and playing at Mount Union. We’re excited about our future with Riley leading our program.”

Since her hire was first announced on April 9, Jarrett has hit the ground running.

She has spent most of her time focusing on roster management — getting to know the current and returning Penguins players, while also continuing recruiting efforts in the transfer portal to fill open roster spots, as well as looking at potential high school prospects for next season.

“Trying to get athletes on campus that we feel like are going to help us turn this thing around, so recruiting has been the big thing,” Jarrett said. “I had a week of practice with the current team, so I was able to be with them for practices and really get to know them. I really listened to them — what do we like? What did we not like? Really hearing their input and their stories has helped me figure out how we’re going to fit this summer and going into preseason.”

The Penguins have eight players from the current roster committed to return, including sophomores Abbie Householder and Julia Sell and senior Dayan Malave and Isabel Schaefbauer, who each played more than 100 sets this past season for YSU.

“It’s been a breath of fresh air to talk with (the returners),” Jarrett said. “I think that they’re all very dedicated and they stayed in Youngstown for a reason. They want to be a part of this change and they’re kind of craving it. They’re craving the competitiveness, they’re craving the structure and they’re craving the intense practices. I feel like it’s been going really good with them.”

In addition to the four high school signees (Andrea Cintron, Kelsey Cooper, Elsie McCutchan and Juliana Rivera) from November that are still planning to join the program for this upcoming season, Jarrett has recently added two more players since her hire, including Nyia Setla, a transfer libero from West Liberty, and Teagan Ng, a high school signee outside hitter from Sunbury that originally committed to Jarrett at West Liberty.

“Nyia is someone I coached all four years at West Liberty. She’s honestly a big reason why West Liberty has been successful. … I’m really excited to get her, not only for her skill in the libero position, but also overall just culture wise,” Jarrett said. “Teagan Ng is someone I recruited very early on, who was a huge get for West Liberty at the DivisIon II level. I could argue that she already could have been playing at the Division I level, but her and I have a great relationship from coach to player. She’s overall a great volleyball player, and she’s going to be great in the Horizon League.”

Jarrett said she wants to build the Penguins program around four major tenets: accountability, passion, respect and gratitude.

But on the floor, Jarrett likes to be “diverse” on offense, which stems from being a setter during her playing career. She also looks for versatility amongst her players.

“Making sure we’re distributing the ball well, making sure we’re less predictable offensively, getting more hitters involved and not being an easy team to scout for — that’s kind of my philosophy and how it’s always been,” Jarrett said. ”

But Jarrett wants to be “realistic” in the short term.

YSU hasn’t had a winning season since 2014, and Jarrett warns that it’s going to take time to build up her vision for the program.

“Obviously, we would all love to go from zero to 100 really quick, but we want to be realistic. This is going to take time to implement. It’s not going to happen overnight,” she said. “We want to be in the Horizon League tournament next year. The top-six make it and that’s our goal. We want to get back there and I do think that’s a realistic goal.

“Once we get the buy-in to the little things, the big things are going to happen. Long term, I want to be towards the top of the Horizon and I want to be a program that is well-respected in the Horizon League. I want to be fighting for those top-three spots. Also, obviously creating a program that is well-known and one that recruits are wanting to come to.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.