(Story courtesy of the University of Dallas)
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas is pleased to announce Emily Holombek as the fifteenth volleyball head coach in program history.
Holombek is set to inherit eight upperclassmen -- five juniors, three seniors -- for the 2014 season.
Dallas finished their 2013 docket with a 21-20 record, which included a 4-10 mark in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). The Lady Crusaders entered the SCAC Championship Tournament as the No. 7 seed. They exited with the same ranking, after defeating No. 8 seed Centenary College of Louisiana in the consolation bracket.
Holombek spent the previous eight years in a volleyball and/or women's basketball coaching capacity at East Central University (ECU) in Ada, Okla. The Lady Tigers compete at the NCAA Division II level.
Most recently, she served as interim women's basketball head coach for the 2013-14 season.
In this capacity, Holombek supervised all aspects of the program, such as scheduling, budgeting, recruiting, transportation, media relations, community relations, and player development, as well as assistant women's basketball responsibilities. She also taught a combined 10 hours of First Aid as well as Freshman Health in the classroom.
Competing in the Great American Conference (GAC), the Lady Tigers navigated to a 19-9 (13-7 GAC) record under the first-year head coach. ECU fell 87-83 in the GAC Semifinals to Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Holombek's other coaching roles at ECU included her working as assistant women's basketball coach (2012-13), volleyball and women's basketball graduate assistant (2010-12) and volleyball camp coach (2006-12).
The Red Oak, Texas, native (Red Oak High School) transferred into ECU as a student-athlete by way of Navarro Junior College (NJC) in Corsicana, Texas. She earned an Associate in Applied Science from NJC in May 2008.
After playing for NJC in the 2006-07 academic-year, Holombek went on to become an integral member of the ECU volleyball team in the span of three seasons (2008-10). In her senior campaign, she was named All-Lone Star Conference Honorable Mention.
Holombek, a two-year letterwinner with the Lady Tigers, is the school's career leader in attack percentage (.267). The holder of eight top-10 rankings, she tallied 33 block solos (second), 132 total blocks (third), 588 kills (fouth), 1,478 total attempts (seventh), 68 service aces (fifth), 99 block assists (fifth) and 305 digs (10th).
She played for the women's basketball team in the last 11 games of the 2009-10 season and all of their 2010-11 slate.
Holombek graduated from ECU in December 2010, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance concentration). She then completed a Master of Education -- Secondary Education option, Sports Administration specialization – from her alma mater in May 2012.
