Calhoun announces first ever volleyball coach

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Calhoun Community College has chosen Jaimee Freeman to be the college’s first head coach of its new volleyball program. She currently serves as the head varsity volleyball coach for Decatur High School and will officially start at Calhoun on May 31.

The 2008 Sparkman High School graduate was named all-county, all-area, received an all-metro honorable mention, as well as led the school’s volleyball team in kills and digs. She went on to compete at the collegiate level, starting all 4 years at Georgia State University. Freeman ended her volleyball career with a total of 803 kills, 124 service aces, 1,372 digs and 139 blocks. She still holds the record in multiple categories, such as the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week, Member of All Rookie Team (2009), All Tournament Team Wisconsin Cowgirl Tournament (2011), All Team Georgia State Tournament (2012), led her team in aces and ranks 7th in digs and 10th for attack attempts in Georgia State University’s athletics history.

Freeman brings over a decade of coaching experience and has served as an assistant volleyball coach for the Tsunami Volleyball Club, Alabama Elite as well as at Wallace State Community College where she led the team to two conference championships in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the team finished with a 35-10 record going undefeated in their conference. She also served as the junior varsity volleyball coach for James Clemens High School, as well as Arab High School. During her first year at Arab, she led the school’s varsity team to a 31-15 record and placed first in the Good Hope Tournament, as well as landing a spot as runners-up in the County Tournament. In her second year at Arab, she led their varsity team to a 19-20 season record and was 3-0 in area play to host the Area Tournament.

“I am extremely humbled, to say the least,” commented Freeman. “Most people who are taking a new role hear, ‘you have big shoes to fill’. The realization for me is that there were no prior shoes to compare or fill, so I am ready to get the ball rolling quickly on recruiting. I am excited to take on this challenge, and am grateful to be a part of history within Calhoun’s Athletics Division,” added Freeman.

During a press conference last fall, Calhoun Interim President, Dr. Jimmy Hodges, announced the return of women’s and men’s basketball, as well as creating the college’s first-ever volleyball program. “Our goal is to reach athletes in our service area and not only provide them with opportunities to compete locally in their respective sports but to also provide them with a high-quality education,” commented Hodges.

Tryouts for the College’s new volleyball team will be held on Friday, May 6, at 4:00 pm in the College’s Kelley Gymnasium on the Decatur Campus, 6250 US Hwy 31 N, Tanner, AL. The cost to participate is $10 per athlete. To be eligible for tryouts, individuals must be either a 2022 graduating high school senior, a current Calhoun student, an eligible college transfer, or a woman 18-24 years old who has previously played on the high school or collegiate level. The new team will compete during the NJCAA’s 2022-2023 season.

To learn more about Calhoun’s volleyball tryouts, visit www.calhoun.edu/volleyball or contact Dr. Nancy Keenum at (256)-306-2850.

All media inquiries should contact Calhoun’s Public Relations team at (256)-306-2560 or (256)-306-2965.