Niece Curry will enter her third season as an assistant volleyball coach at Illinois State in 2016. Curry joined the staff in 2014 after successful coaching stops across multiple levels, and a highly successful playing career at South Carolina.

The Redbirds have compiled a combined record of 49-16 in Curry’s first two seasons with the team, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns, and Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2014.

Prior to her time at Illinois State, Curry served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Bucknell. Her responsibilities there included recruiting, scouting and video analysis. She coordinated team travel, community service, camps and clinics, while assisting with team promotions and media relations. Curry developed an analysis system for evaluating team and player performance, and worked closely with the team’s middle blockers, developing a successful blocking scheme specifically tailored to the team. Bucknell ranked second in the Patriot League in blocking in 2013, with two players ranking among the league’s top five in blocks. 

Curry is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and Alliance of Women Coaches, and is a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy.

Curry was a standout middle blocker at South Carolina, helping the Gamecocks to three NCAA Tournament appearances during her career. She earned All-SEC First Team honors in 2002 and served as a team captain in 2003. Curry set a South Carolina single-season record with a .404 hitting percentage in 2002, while ranking sixth among all Division I players that year.

A native of Portage, Michigan, Curry earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from South Carolina in 2004. She earned a MBA with emphasis in human resources management in 2009.