ARIELLE WILSON AT A GLANCE
Full Name: Arielle Wilson
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Twitter: @MissREL7
Instagram: @missrel7
Wilson’s Coaching Timeline
2019-Assistant Coach, Georgia Tech
2018-2019- Volunteer Assistant Coach, Michigan State University
2016-2017- Assistant Coach, DePaul University
Wilson’s Playing Timeline
2007-2011 – Penn State
2011-2016 – Professional volleyball in Italy, Poland, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.
2013- Wilson also had an extensive stint of training with the US National Team
Wilson’s Education Timeline
2001, B.A., Kinesiology with a focus in Fitness Studies, Penn State
Wilson completed her fourth season as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 2022. She was named as an assistant coach in 2019.
In 2021, Wilson helped guide the Yellow Jackets to their third consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, reaching the second round of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. Wilson helped the White and Gold finish ranked No. 16 in the country, moving up as high as No. 5 during the course of the season.
In her third season on The Flats, Georgia Tech advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, tying 2003’s squad for the best finish in program history. The White and Gold swept The Citadel, No. 17 WKU and No. 9 Ohio State on the way to the program’s second ever Elite Eight. The tournament appearance marked the second with Wilson on staff at Tech and the 11th for the program. Tech’s eight seed in the tournament also marked the second-highest all time as the Yellow Jackets went on to finish ranked No. 7 in RPI and No. 8 by the AVCA, tied for the highest ranking at season’s end in program history. Tech’s back-to-back tournament appearances marked the first since five straight from 2000-04. On the stat sheet, Tech finished with some of the top numbers in the country, pacing the nation in kills per set (15.18) and assists per set (13.90). Based on the 2021 NCAA record book, Tech’s kills per set mark is set to become an NCAA record as one of the top marks in the history of the sport. The Jackets were also sixth in the NCAA and second in the ACC in hitting percentage (0.291). Other notable numbers include ranking second in the ACC and 10th in the NCAA in kills (1,700), second in the conference and 14th in the country assists (1,557) and third in the league in digs per set (15.15). Wilson also assisted three Jackets on the way to all-American honors as outside hitters Julia Bergmann and Mariana Brambilla were each voted AVCA First Team All-Americans while setter Matti McKissock was named an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention for the second most all-American honors in a season for the White and Gold all time. Brambilla and Bergmann are the first Yellow Jackets to be named First Team All-Americans since Kele Eveland in 2003, previously the only player in ACC history to garner the recognition. The same three Jackets were named all-region, on top of Bergmann’s AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year honors. Five Yellow Jackets were named All-ACC on the season as Bergmann received the ACC Player of the Year award.
In 2020, the Jackets reached new heights with the help of Wilson by advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship for the first time since 2004 to finish with a 14-5 overall record with a 13-4 record in ACC play. Tech won its first NCAA Tournament win in nearly 17 years and was nationally ranked by the AVCA Coaches poll all season, reaching as high as No. 8 and coming in at No. 22 at the end of the season after spending multiple weeks atop the ACC. The berth in the Big Dance alone marked the 10th time in program history and the first for the Yellow Jackets since 2009. Tech also went on an eight-match winning streak, including five straight sweeps. The Jackets swept 10 opponents out of 14 wins on the season with five more sweeps in the spring as their 10 ACC sweeps were the most conference sweeps in the league on the year. On the stat sheet, the Yellow Jackets finished 10th in the country and led the ACC in hitting percentage (0.285) while ranking second in the ACC in assists per set (12.81) and kills per set (13.78). With individuals, Wilson aided a pair of all-Americans in Mariana Brambilla (AVCA Division I Third Team All-American, All-ACC First Team) and Julia Bergmann (AVCA Division I Honorable Mention All-America, All-ACC First Team).
In 2019, Wilson helped lead the Jackets to its first NIVC Championship and second-place finish in the ACC after a 11th-place projected finish in preseason. It marked the Jackets’ highest finish in conference play since 2004 when they went undefeated to claim the regular season title. The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season with a 21-8 record, its first 20-win season since 2016 when the Jackets went 24-8.
Wilson, a native of Broadview, Ill., comes to The Flats from Michigan State, where she served as the volunteer assistant for the Spartans during the 2018 season. Wilson specialized in middle blocker training and team blocking.
Prior to coaching at Michigan State University, Wilson was an assistant coach at DePaul University and part-time coach for the outdoor beach volleyball program with 1st Alliance Volleyball Club, located near Chicago. While at DePaul, she worked extensively with the team’s middle blockers. During the 2016 season, DePaul had its first All-BIG EAST first team member (Brittany Maxwell) and the Blue Demons won a program-best seven BIG EAST contests. Middle blocker Jasmine King was a Second Team All-BIG EAST selection under the guidance of Wilson. Her duties also included spearheading the team’s community outreach activities. At 1st Alliance, she was able to train and develop middle blockers that currently represent some of the very best volleyball conferences in the country.
Wilson, having been raised in a hot bed for volleyball, has strong recruiting ties to several clubs in Chicago and its surrounding areas as well as around the country. These ties and her relationship skills aided her successful recruiting at DePaul. Since Wilson has been at Georgia Tech as a recruiting coordinator her connections to the southeast have increased and she has even built more west coast and east coast ties/relationships.
Prior to Wilson’s time at Georgia Tech, she was able to play professionally overseas for five years. As a professional athlete she was able to play, interact, and adapt to many different coaches and players, helping my ability to network at the international level. The opportunity to work with people from different walks of life has opened her eyes to various styles of coaching.
As a collegiate athlete, she was extremely fortunate to train in a national championship culture and to play amongst the world’s best athletes at Penn State University. During her four-year tenure, she had the pleasure of being part of one of the best and most successful volleyball teams in the history of NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball, winning four consecutive National Championships.
Wilson has great perspective and success at coaching middle blockers and team defense. She has also had experience with coaching blocking technique and block scheming as it pertains to team defense. Wilson is also able to help assist our team in knowing/scouting what offense Tech’s opponents were running and where Tech should focus when it came to defense.
