WASHINGTON (February 5, 2018) – Coach Shaun Kupferberg and the Howard University Women's Volleyball team named Ciara Jones as its new assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Jones comes to Howard after one season at Clemson, serving as the Tigers' Director of Operations.
 
"Ciara [Jones] is not only a great coach, but she is someone our student-athletes can model themselves after," Kupferberg stated. "She was an elite player and worked with a great staff at Clemson before arriving here.  I look forward to seeing her impact with our student-athletes this spring."
 
Some of the responsibilities and duties at Clemson included Assistant Camp Director camp preparation, coordinating schedules, assist with coaching duties of over 300 campers, performed day to day administrative operations of the program which included handling team travel logistics and itineraries, transportation, hotels, meals, and away practice times; assisting with on campus recruiting visits logistical details; and assist with managing team budget.
 
"I am extremely humbled and honored to become a part of the Howard Volleyball program," said Jones. "I'm very excited to work for Shaun [Kupferberg] and grow as an assistant coach and recruiter. This program continues to grow in their success and I'm proud to be able to help maintain that success."
 
Before Clemson, she spent a year as the head coach and recruiting coordinator for Top Select Volleyball Club in Orlando, Fla. Recently, she was named Head Coach of the Year for Top Select. Jones also served as the head volleyball coach at Edgewater High School in Orlando for the past three seasons, beginning in 2014. Her high school team won district championships all three seasons, and Jones was voted Metro Coach of the Year in 2016.
 
From 2014-16, Jones worked for the Orlando Health Foundation as an event coordinator, gaining valuable experience in event management and coordination as well as donor relations. She also spent two years, from 2012-14, as a Blue & Gold Fund Assistant for the Marquette Athletic Department, where she gained additional experience planning events and working with donors.
 
Jones, who played for Marquette from 2008-12 under the leadership of Head Coach Bond Shymansky (Iowa) and Clemson's head coach Michaela Franklin's time as an assistant coach with the Golden Eagles. She was a four-year letterwinner where she led the Golden Eagles to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011, a season in which she was named a Big East First Team All-American. Jones earned Marquette Athletics' Outstanding Female Leadership & Service Award in 2012 and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2011-12.
 
In the summer of 2018, Jones will be inducted into the Marquette University M Club Hall of Fame.
 
In May 2012, Jones earned a bachelor's degree in Broadcast & Electronic Communications from Marquette and earned a master's in Leadership Studies with a specialization in Sports Leadership, also from Marquette, in December 2014.
 
"I'm eager to help lead our girls on and off the court," Jones continued. "Howard is a beautiful place in a unique area in Washington D.C. and I knew when I saw the campus this was the place for me. I am ready to get to work and do whatever this program needs to make it elite."
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.