MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama volleyball head coach Amy Hendrichovsky announced Monday that Faith Steinwedell has joined her staff as an assistant coach.
Steinwedell’s duties will include defensive game-planning, scouting, coordinating team travel, alumni relations and leading the program’s community outreach.
California Prep Standout
Steinwedell, a native of El Cajon, Calif., was a two-time all-conference and all-league player at Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, Calif. She was part of state championship teams in 2005 and 2007 and district title teams from 2004 through 2007. She earned third-team All-San Diego honors and first-team All-Coastal North League honors as both a junior and a senior.
Captain at Mississippi State
Steinwedell began her college career at Mississippi State, where she played three seasons for the Bulldogs despite two knee injuries. She was named team captain before the 2011 and 2012 seasons and finished her Mississippi State career with 493 kills, 559 digs and 162 blocks.
She was named to the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll each year from 2008 to 2012. She was one of four Mississippi State players to earn SEC Freshman Academic Honors in 2008 and was a President’s Scholar as a sophomore with a 4.0 grade-point average.
Final Season at Cal Baptist
Steinwedell then played one season at California Baptist in Riverside, Calif. She started all 26 matches in which she played, ranked third on the team in digs (256) and total blocks (56) and fourth in hitting percentage (.267), and had 217 kills. She was a 2012 All-PacWest honorable mention selection, a second-team NCCAA West All-Region pick and a 2012-13 PacWest Academic All-Conference honoree.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport pedagogy from Mississippi State in 2011 and a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sports management from Cal Baptist in 2012.
Jaguars Return Young Core
South Alabama returns a trio of players who earned multiple Sun Belt Freshman of the Week honors last season: Mallory Moore, Jessica Lewis and Mechell Daniel. Daniel was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, only the second individual conference award in program history, and earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors. She also was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, the fourth Jaguar to earn that honor. Lewis was a second-team All-Sun Belt selection.
The Jaguars open the 2014 season Aug. 29-30 at the Asics Classic in Malibu, Calif., where they will face Pepperdine, Nevada and Oral Roberts.
