Leah
Mercer,
Head Volleyball Coach
Head Coach Leah Mercer '02 enters her fourth season at the helm of the USI volleyball program after leading the Screaming Eagles to
their ninth straight GLVC Tournament appearance and eighth straight winning
season.
Mercer's Eagles finished 15-14 overall in 2007 and finished fourth in the GLVC West Division with a 9-10 conference mark. Under Mercer's direction, the 2007 Eagles set season records for digs (2,147) and block assists (450).
In 2006, Mercer led the Eagles to a sixth-place finish in the GLVC regular-season standings with a 17-11 overall mark, 9-7 GLVC. In the Great Lakes Region, the Eagles knocked off eventual region champion Ashland early in the season.
In 2005, Mercer led her squad to a 19-13 overall
record and an 11-5 mark in the GLVC. Her squad also posted wins over fifth-ranked North Alabama and 11th-ranked Northern
Michigan.
A native of Evansville and a 2002 graduate of USI, Mercer served Loyola
University (Chicago) as the top assistant coach in 2004. She helped guide the
Ramblers to a 22-9 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the Horizon League.
Loyola won the Horizon League Tournament championship and qualified for the
NCAA Division I Tournament before falling to the University of Wisconsin in
the first round.
Prior to her one-year stint at Loyola, Mercer spent a year as a graduate
assistant coach at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She helped lead the
Bobcats to a 28-5 overall record, the Mid-American Conference regular-season
and tournament titles, and the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA I
Tournament.
Mercer, who started her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Purdue
University in 2002, was a two-time All-GLVC performer and helped lead the
Eagles to a three-year record of 61-27, including a 49-14 mark as a junior and
senior. She averaged 3.1 kills per game during her three seasons of collegiate
volleyball. Mercer also averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in two seasons
with USI’s women’s basketball program.
Mercer, who has a bachelor’s degree in physical education (teaching K-12) and
a master’s degree in recreation and sports science (coaching education), is
the Screaming Eagles’ 11th head coach in the history of the program.
