Jhenna Gabriel Named Volleyball Assistant Coach
1/23/2025 10:20:00 AM | Volleyball
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri volleyball head coach Dawn Sullivan announced Thursday the promotion of Jhenna Gabriel to assistant coach.
"Jhenna has been an integral part of our coaching staff since my arrival at Missouri," Sullivan said of Gabriel. "She has excelled in every task that I have assigned her. I am excited to see her responsibilities at Mizzou increase with this new role."
Gabriel has spent the past two seasons as Missouri's technical coordinator. As a member of the MU staff, she has helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet 16 bid in 2024.
Mizzou earned the seventh seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished the 2024 campaign ranked in the top-25 with a 22-9 overall record.
Mizzou registered 20-plus overall wins and 10-plus SEC wins in a season for the first time since 2019. MU finished tied for third in the SEC this season with an 11-5 mark after being selected to finish sixth in the preseason poll.
Missouri went on a nine-match win streak (eight SEC matches) from Oct. 9 to Nov. 10. It marked MU's longest win streak since 2016 (13 matches, nine SEC matches).
The Tigers had four All-SEC players, four AVCA Central All-Region players and a trio of All-Americans in 2024.
Graduate outside hitter Mychael Vernon was tabbed an AVCA Third-Team All-American while senior right side hitter Jordan Iliff and junior libero Maya Sands were selected AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans. Setter Marina Crownover was named All-SEC and to the AVCA Central All-Region Team.
Gabriel came to Mizzou with a wealth of volleyball experience. She played professionally for Leonas de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and the San Diego Mojo, after completing a standout collegiate career at Texas and UNLV.
Gabriel, a Honolulu, Hawaii, setter, competed for Sullivan at UNLV in 2022, helping the Rebels secure the Mountain West Regular-Season Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Gabriel picked up Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, All-Mountain West First Team honors, an AVCA South Pacific All-Region nod, and Academic All-District honors in her lone season with UNLV.
Prior to UNLV, she racked up 3,491 assists over four seasons with Texas.
Gabriel led the Longhorns to an NCAA National Championship Runner-up finish in 2020 while also earning AVCA All-American and Big 12 Setter of the Year accolades.
Over her collegiate career, Gabriel captured five-straight conference titles in both the Big 12 and the Mountain West.
She is a two-time University of Texas alum. Gabriel graduated with her master's in sport management in 2022 after securing her bachelor's degree in public relations in 2021.
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