Mark Jones is the head coach for women’s volleyball at Quincy University. Quincy University is a NCAA Division II institution located in Quincy IL. Quincy is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference alongside other schools such as: Rockhurst University, Lewis University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Before his time at Quincy Mark Jones served two seasons as an assistant coach for the Indiana State women's volleyball program. During his time at Indiana State, the team accumulated 21 wins in two seasons and made an appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in 2017, which included their first tournament win in school history. Prior to Indiana State, Jones served eight seasons as the head women's volleyball coach at Division 1 Manhattan College.

Mark Jones has an abundance of experience coaching at all levels. In this interview Mark talks about his coaching background, recruiting tips and his do’s and don’ts for communicating with college coaches. Mark also shares with us his Mount Rushmore of volleyball and gives us his top four volleyball players of all time. This is an interview you don't want to miss! Enjoy!

Coach:

Mark Jones: Head Coach for Women’s Volleyball at Quincy University

Topic 2: Coaching Influences:

Mark credits his mentors during his time at Washington University and believes they have influenced his coaching a lot. Mark says that he thinks it's very important to never stop learning from other coaches and even now as a head coach he continues to be influenced by other coaches. 

Topic 3: Mount Rushmore of Volleyball:

Marks first pick is Kerri Walsh Jennings and explains that she is an amazing player indoor and on the beach. His next pick is Karch Kari, the coach of the US national team, and states that he is an incredible competitor. Mark’s next pick is one of his friends who played at UCLA. His last pick is Keri Killebrew who played at Washington State University. 

Topic 4: Recruiting Do’s and Don’ts:

Mark reminds players when sending an email to coaches to make sure they are including all of the important information, such as: their graduation year, their contact information and videos of themselves playing. He recommends players keeping their highlights short and to the point. He also recommends players send in videos that showcase themselves in more than one position so that he can see they are versatile players. Mark also reminds players that before scheduling phone calls with coaches to make sure they have done some research about the school and have questions ready to ask. 

Topic 5: Recruiting Tips:

Mark recommends players continue to stay proactive about the recruiting process during this time and reminds them that coaches still want to hear from players. Mark also explains how his rules as a division II coach differ from division I and III. 

Topic 6: Success: Mental Toughness vs Talent:

Mark says that when coming into Quincy’s program they focus on three main things: family, academics and volleyball. Mark is passionate about wanting players that are very motivated and competitive. He thinks back to the teams he has coached that have been successful and states that he credits their mental toughness and drive to keep getting better. Mark thinks that at the end of the day what it really comes down to is everyone on the team focusing on one common goal.

Coach Jones shared some valuable insight about the recruiting process. We hope you can utilize it to your advantage when going through your own journey. Check out our other blog posts more tips and tricks!