Since becoming the sixth full-time head coach in the history of the program in February 2004, Mike Webster has continued the tradition of leading the Panther volleyball team to success on and off the court.
This past season, Webster led the Panthers to their second biggest win-total turnaround in school history, finishing the season 16-14, his second winning season at the helm. The team won the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge and Elon Invitational, while finishing sixth in the NCAA in service aces. Georgia State concluded the month of September on a seven-match winning streak, leading the way to a 13-win turnaround.
In his first season at the helm, Webster guided State to a second-place tie in the Atlantic Sun Conference as the squad reached the conference semifinals after an opening-round win in the A-Sun Tournament. Ana Paul Ferriera, Robyn van Dam and Carol Mattos each earned A-Sun Player of the Week honors during the regular season. Robyn van Dam earned A-Sun All-Conference First Team honors, while April DeCoste was named to the second team and earned all-tournament honors following her play in the conference tournament.
In his second year, Webster led the Panthers to a .500 record in league play during their first season in the Colonial Athletic Association. In 2005, State finished fifth in the CAA and earned a conference tournament berth for the 11th-straight season. Alex Blenche earned the team's first-ever CAA Player of the Week honor and was later named to the All-CAA First Team.
In 2006, State struggled with injuries and narrowly missed the CAA Tournament after finishing tied for seventh in the league. Freshman Noelle Boyd was named to the All-CAA Rookie Team and also earned Rookie of the Week honors during the regular season. Five Panthers also earned CAA All-Academic honors.
The Panthers opened 2007 by winning six of their first eight matches, as Webster registered his first winning season at the helm. The team started the season by winning the Georgia State Invitational and followed that up the following weekend by sweeping the Mean Green Classic hosted by North Texas. State finished the season with a 16-14 record and tied for seventh with a 6-8 record against an arduous CAA schedule. Amy Lusk was named to the All-CAA Third Team, while Ana Paula Ferriera earned her first CAA Player of the Week honors. Nine Panthers earned CAA All-Academic honors, a new volleyball record.
In 2008, Webster guided the youngest team in recent Panther history with only three upperclassmen. Sophomore Ashley Jones tied for first in the nation through the regular season with six triple-doubles, while also earning All-CAA Third Team honors. Jones was also honored as CAA Player of the Week and was listed as a CVU Top Performer on October 6th after her first pair of triple-doubles. Freshman Torrie Brown earned CAA Freshman of the Week honors after her play in the Georgia Bulldog Invitational, the same event that Audrey Cantrell was named to the all-tournament team. Six members of the squad earned CAA All-Academic for their individual work in the classroom.
In 2009, junior Ashley Jones earned All-CAA Third Team honors for the second consecutive season. Jones was named to the all-tournament teams at the N.C. Central Invitational, as well as Elon Invitational and Great 8 Volleyball Challenge, where she earned tournament MVP honors. Jones was also awarded CAA co-Offensive Player of the Week after the first of her six triple-doubles of the season, which was the third most in the country.
Redshirt-junior Audrey Cantrell was named the tournament MVP of the Elon Invitational, while also earning all-tournament honors at the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge. Vineece Verdun also earned all-tournament honors at the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge, Illinois-Chicago Invitational and Elon Invitational. Verdun earned CAA Offensive Player of the Week on September 28th.
Freshman Jamiee Freeman was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team after the season. During her first year, Freeman recorded 31 digs against Hofstra to earn CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors in early October.
Cantrell finished the season with a school-record 531 digs, establishing a new school record with 36 digs in a four-set match in the final contest of the season against William & Mary.
After the season, a total of eight student-athletes earned CAA All-Academic honors, while Jones and Verdun were named to the COBRA Magazine National Team, Jones earning second team honors and Verdun earning third.
Focus on the Complete Student-Athlete
State's success on the court has been matched by its accomplishments off the court and in the community during Webster's tenure. In 2004-05, the squad won Georgia State's CHAMPS/Life Skills Cup. The award is given to the winning team in a year-long competition among all Georgia State teams that focuses on developing the individual, being an active role model, acting as a team, supporting other student-athletes and being involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
During the summer of 2005, the Panthers conducted volleyball clinics for underprivileged children in Sao Paulo, Brazil, while participating in a foreign tour and competing against local club teams. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, the Panthers had a T-shirt sale during their regular-season home tournament and raised money for the American Red Cross. In addition to working in soup kitchens during the winter of 2005-06, State conducted a fundraiser during its 2006 spring tournament and raised over $700 for the Atlanta Two-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. Additionally, the team has hosted day-long clinics in the summer for inner-city children as part of the After-School All-Stars program since 2007.
In 2008, the team hosted 'Swing for a Cure' and raised over $1800 for breast cancer awareness. The team also hosted the Girl Scouts for a volleyball clinic prior to the start of the James Madison match. That same weekend, a crowd of over 400 from the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta members cheered on the Panthers in a thrilling match against George Mason.
The Panthers hosted 'Dig for the Cure' in 2009 and raised over $2000 for breast cancer awareness. After the devastation in Haiti, the team stood in Library Plaza and raised just under $1000 in less than two hours for the American Red Cross.
Webster spent nine years as an assistant coach at four different universities before coming to State. He has brought a vast knowledge of the game to the court and is passionate about sharing this information with his student-athletes. His tireless work to improve his team has resulted in six players receiving all-conference accolades, one taking home conference all-tournament honors and seven player of the week honors.
Academics also play a key role in Webster's coaching philosophy. His emphasis on success in the classroom has resulted in 19 student-athletes earning conference all-academic honors a total of 33 times during his six seasons as head coach, including a record nine following the 2007 season.
Coaching Stops
Webster's coaching career began in 1995 as a student assistant at Maryland, and was part of a Terps' women's team that claimed a runner-up finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
In 1996, Webster moved to Ohio University as a volunteer assistant while working on a master's degree. He was promoted to second assistant coach in January 1997, and held that position through May 1999. While in Athens, he earned a master's in physical education - athletic administration in November 1998. He helped revive a program that had been dormant in years past, and has now won five straight Mid-American Conference regular-season titles.
After leaving Ohio University, Webster began his first tour of duty in the Atlantic Sun Conference (then the Trans America Athletic Conference) as first assistant coach at the University of Central Florida. He helped the Golden Knights reach back-to-back conference championship matches during his two seasons under head coach Meg Colado.
After two years in Orlando, Webster took a position as first assistant coach at the University of Connecticut. During his three seasons under UConn head coach Kelli Myers, the squad went 55-34, including a pair of 20-win seasons and two Big East Conference Tournament berths.
In addition to his nine seasons as an assistant on the Division I level, Webster served as a head coach of numerous club teams dating back to 1994. Some of his head coaching stints were with the New England Region High Performance Team (Junior Division) and the Husky Juniors Volleyball Club (18-Under Juniors).
A member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association since 1997, Webster has received Level I and Level II accreditation through the USA Volleyball Coaching Accreditation Program. In 1996, he became an author when his article "The Ups and Downs of a Non-Traditional Hitting Approach: Is Change Necessary?" was published in the May/June 1996 edition of Coaching Volleyball.
All-American Player
Webster's collegiate volleyball career began at the University of Maryland in 1991, immediately stepping in as the starting setter for the men's club team. Webster earned MVP honors in 1993 and 1994 in the club tournament for the ACC teams, along with First-Team honors from that group from 1993-95. He also brought home Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association First Team honors in 1994 and 1995, as well as Collegiate Club Nationals All-American status in those same years.
Family Man
Born on Oct. 31, 1973, in Silver Spring, Md., Michael John Webster is married to the former Shannon Saltzman. Their partnership extends to the court, where Shannon has served as a volunteer assistant since 2004. The couple resides in Norcross and welcomed a son, Samuel Calvin, on Oct. 19, 2007.
