Volleyball Welcomes Former Cyclone Malcom to Staff

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State volleyball is pleased to welcome one of its own back to Ames, as Jen Malcom was announced as Iowa State's new assistant coach on Wednesday. Malcom, who played middle blocker for the Cyclones from 2006-08, comes to ISU from Tennessee, where she was an assistant coach last season after four years at Virginia Tech.

“We are extremely excited that Jen has decided to come back home to Iowa State,” head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “Jen was one of the most competitive players I have ever coached, and a big reason we advanced to the Elite Eight her senior year. As a player, she was a tremendous leader and teammate.”

Malcom was a member of Rob Patrick's Tennessee Volunteers coaching staff last season, helping lead UT to a 21-12 record. The Volunteer middles were a strength of the team, with freshman Erica Treiber posting 2.15 kills per set at a team-best a .354 hitting percentage and 1.14 blocks per set en route to earning SEC All-Freshman Team honors. Raina Hembry was also strong in the middle, recording 2.16 kills per set and 0.93 blocks per frame. At Virginia Tech, Malcom worked with a trio of middle blockers who collected AVCA All-America honorable mention in Cara Baarendse, Kathryn Caine and Victoria Hamsher.

“It's been wonderful to see her coaching career evolve over the past several years, she has worked with, and learned from several great coaches. I hired Jen because she is so well regarded as a coach and recruiter. The fact that she played at Iowa State is a huge bonus.”

A native of Schaller, Iowa, Malcom started her collegiate career at Syracuse for two seasons, before transferring to Iowa State. In her two years, Malcom helped guide ISU volleyball to then-unprecedented heights, helping lead Iowa State to its first Sweet 16 in 2007 and first Elite Eight in 2008. She was a key cog in that revolution, earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and AVCA All-Central Region in 2008.

Malcom left Iowa State as its all-time leader in hitting percentage in a single-match (.789), single-season (.343) and career (.318). While her single-match and career records still stand, she will inherit the two middles who took down her single-season record last year in Samara West (.352) and Alexis Conaway (.351).