RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Following a national search for its next head coach, Nicky Cannon has been selected to lead UC Riverside's Women's Volleyball program, Director of Athletics Wesley Mallette announced today. Cannon, who spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton, becomes the program's fourth head coach since its inception in 1970 (originally at the Division II level before UCR Athletics transitioned to the Division I level just over 20 years ago).
 
"We are incredibly excited to have Coach Nicky Cannon join our Athletics program and lead our Women's Volleyball team forward," Mallette said. "Nicky's energy, enthusiasm, focus, track record of building student-athletes and understanding of what is required to lead our team forward, came across clearly throughout the search process. The 'Coach Cannon Era' is underway and I am fully confident in Nicky's ability to lead our program to new heights while simultaneously building and developing our student-athletes for opportunities in life through sport."
 
"Also, I want to thank TurnkeyZRG's Katy Young Staudt and our search committee for an outstanding job in conducting and managing a highly competitive national search which yielded a significant number of high caliber candidates," Mallette concluded.

"I am thrilled and honored to be the Head Women's Volleyball Coach at UC Riverside, and I am thankful to Athletics Director, Wesley Mallette, for entrusting me with this opportunity and welcoming me to the UCR family," Cannon said. " This is a dream opportunity for my family and me, and I am ready to lead UCR Women's Volleyball forward as we begin a new era for the Highlanders. Most importantly, I am excited to empower the young women in our program to be champions both on and off the court, and to lead them in a way where the success they experience will carry them forward beyond their years on campus. I cannot wait to lead this group of young women and build a team that will grow together, operate with confidence and poise, compete fearlessly and win in the Big West Conference."

"I want to express my gratitude to Cal State Fullerton and the entire Titan community for a tremendous experience over the last three years. Also, I want to thank University of New Orleans Head Women's Volleyball Coach, Ashley Preston, who gave me the opportunity to join her staff at Cal State Fullerton and empowered me to be great. Finally, I want to thank Cal State Fullerton's Head Women's Volleyball Coach, Nicole Polster, for her mentorship, friendship and continued support; Athletics Director, Jim Donovan, and the coaches, staff and student-athletes at Cal State Fullerton for giving me a voice across campus and within the department and the opportunity to coach and lead."

Cal State Fullerton made major strides with Cannon as an assistant coach, finishing 2019 with the Titans' most wins 2012. She was also an integral part of team's back-to-back 10-win seasons for CSUF for the first time in eight years. Cannon helped numerous Titans earn All-Big West recognition in her first year, including Julia Crawford, whose 368 kills and 398.5 total points were the most by a Titan since the 2014 season. Cannon's student-athlete development also reflected on 2019 Big West Honorable Mention honoree Savahna Costello, who ranked 17^th in Division I with 5.31 digs per set.
 
Cannon joined Cal State Fullerton after spending three years as the assistant coach in both indoor and beach volleyball at Cypress Community College. In her three years as the assistant coach, she helped Nancy Welliver to an indoor and two beach conference championships as well as two state tournament appearances.

Prior to Cypress, Cannon served as Athletics Director and Head Volleyball Coach at Christ Academy High School in Wichita Falls, Texas from 2013-2015. While in Texas, Cannon also co-founded Zone-In Volleyball Academy (ZIVA), where she was the head coach for the 14's and 18's national team and club director from 2012-2019.

Nicky is also a Bring your Own Parent (BYOP) Program Instructor for the Orange County Region. The BYOP is a program designed by AVCA Hall of Fall Inductee, Ruth Nelson, to develop and provide aspiring volleyball players (ages 5-11 years old) and their parents with a strong foundation of basic volleyball skills, effective and efficient movement patterns and basic volleyball IQ.

She is currently completing her Master's Degree in Physical Education at Azuza Pacific and resides in La Palma with her husband, Jerron, and two daughters.