Southeastern Oklahoma State University Women's Volleyball

Nicole Solum-Mitchell became the fifth head coach in Southeastern volleyball history on March 1, 2019.   Her squad would turn in a 12-17 record in 2023, finishing 7-9 in Great American Conference play and was led by GAC Player of the Year D'Nari Mills. Mills and Ruthie Forson picked up All-GAC honors for that season,bringing Solum-Mitchell's honors total to 10. She recorded her first collegiate win as a head coach on Sept. 13, 2019 with a 3-0 win over Cameron. That first season team would finish 3-25 and a 2-14 mark in Great American Conference play where they finished 10th in her inaugural outing. That team featured Caitlin Cosby who earned All-GAC recognition and would go on set Southeastern's all-time leader in digs and ranked second in the conference all-time. In her second season she would have to guide the program through the landscape of the Covid-19 Pandemic which would cancel the fall season and the team would come back int he spring, their typical offseason, and put together a 10-game regular season and a conference tournament, finishing the year 2-9 with Aleksandra Rodic, Grace Shehadeh, Ruthie Forson, and Skylor Lewis each taking home honorable mention All-GAC honors. The Storm would qualify for the GAC tournament in her third year, led by a pair of All-GAC honorees in Ruthie Forson and Grace Shehadeh. Solum makes the move to Southeastern after a five-year stint as an assistant coach for Winona State. With the Warriors she helped guide the team to 20-win seasons in three of her five years, including a trip to the incredibly competitive Central regional in 2016.   In 2016, WSU posted its most wins in a season since the 1990 season with 27 and saw the program earn is first-ever AVCA All-American.   Before coming to Southeastern she would go on to coach three All-Americans with the Warriors, along with four all-region awards, and 17 All-Northern Sun selections over her five seasons.   While on staff at WSU the team posted a 100-47 record overall, winning at a .680 clip.   A native of Spokane, Wash., Solum spent the 2013 season as both an assistant coach and interim head coach at Valley City State University in Valley City, N.D.  While there she coached the Vikings' Aurissa Martens to an AVCA All-Region and First Team All-American honors as well as North Star Most Valuable Senior recognition.   Solum got her start in the NSIC as both a coach and a player.  She was a graduate assistant for the Bemidji State volleyball team for two seasons, where she was responsible for team practices, game film, recruiting, study hall and working camps and clinics throughout the year. Prior to that, she was a three-year player for the Beavers, spending the last two as team captain.   Prior to her playing career at Bemidji State, she played her freshman season at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore. Solum is married to Lorenzo Mitchell and the couple welcomed their first child, Poppy, in 2022.   Career Record: Year    OVR    Conf    Note 2019    3-25   2-14 2020    2-9    2-8     Played in Spring of 2021 due to Covid, qualified for GAC tournament 2021    8-19   5-11    GAC Tournament 2022    4-25   1-15 2023    12-17  7-9     GAC Tournament 2024    13-16  8-8     GAC Tournament TOTAL   42-111 25-65  

Carmen Kinsey enters her second season as the assistant volleyball coach for Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2024.   The Norman, Okla. native joins SE from Southwestern Oklahoma State, where she spent the 2023 season as the graduate assistant volleyball coach.   Before transitioning to the coaching role, Kinsey was a five-year player, playing four seasons with Tarleton State and her final year at SWOSU.  In her first season with TSU, Kinsey was part of a historic run, which saw Tarleton State finish as Lone Star Conference Champions and South Central Regional Champions after a 32-5 season.   From her outside hitter position, Kinsey recorded 552 kills, 139 digs and 121.0 total blocks across 297 sets in four years with TSU. In her lone season at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Kinsey started 19 of 27 matches, registering 169 kills and 75 total blocks, and was a GAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete.    Kinsey graduated from Tarleton State in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies and later received her Master of Education in Sports Management from Southwestern Oklahoma State in 2024.