OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian volleyball team will be bringing in a familiar face to serve as the team's Graduate Assistant Coach for the 2021 season as Hanna Nicholson will join the program on June 1.
"I'm very excited to be a part of this program and to teach these women the championship mindset," said Nicholson. "I look forward to getting started and becoming a part of the MACU family."
"Hanna brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to MACU volleyball with five years coaching experience and five years of playing collegiately," said MACU Head Coach Holly McKamie. "She will be an excellent addition to our team as we look to build on our record breaking season. She brings contagious energy and excitement to every team she is a part of."
Nicholson comes to MACU after a three-year playing career with the Oklahoma City Stars, a Sooner Athletic Conference rival of the Evangels and a team that's won five straight SAC championships.
In her three seasons with OCU, Nicholson played in 63 sets, recording 80 kills on a .137 attack percentage, 63 digs and six blocks. During those three campaigns, the Stars went 15-4 (10-0 SAC) in 2020-21, 34-4 (20-0 SAC) in 2019 and 31-6 (18-2 SAC) in 2018, making it to the NAIA Tournament in each of those seasons.
Before playing at OCU, Nicholson spent two seasons competing for Columbia (Mo.), another NAIA powerhouse program where she was named an Academic All-American, Academic All-Conference as well as the NAIA Champion of Character in 2016 while helping lead the Cougars to the NAIA Tournament in back-to-back years.
On top of her playing experience, Nicholson has spent her time around the game in a coaching role as well.
In her two years in Missouri, Nicholson was a club coach for a program called "Performance" and after transferring to Oklahoma City, returned to her roots coaching the Oklahoma Charge volleyball club, a team that Nicholson competed for during her high school playing career while also playing for Choctaw High School.
Nicholson joins a MACU volleyball program that has been trending up in the last few seasons. During the split 2020-21 season, the Evangels put together their winningest campaign since joining the NAIA in 2007. MACU closed out the year with a 19-15 overall record and went 5-5 in SAC play during McKamie's first year at the helm.
It was the first time that MACU has strung together back-to-back winning seasons after going 15-14 during the 2019 season while also making back-to-back trips to the NCCAA Division I National Championships, their first two trips to the national tourney since moving up to the DI level.
The Evangels will be bringing back a wellspring of experience to next season's roster, which will be led by a pair of NCCAA All-Americans and All-SAC First Team honorees in Hanna Foecker and Maegan Plunk.
