PROVO, Utah (June 28, 2011) — BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe today announced that women’s volleyball head coach Shay Goulding has resigned her position at the university and assistant coach Shawn Olmstead has been promoted as the program’s new head coach.
“We appreciate Shay’s service to BYU these past three seasons and certainly wish her well in her future endeavors,” Holmoe said. "We have full confidence that Shawn is the right person to guide the program and anticipate this transition in leadership will be a smooth one as the team prepares for its first season in the West Coast Conference.”
A 13-year veteran of collegiate coaching, Goulding leaves BYU after three seasons in Provo where her teams went 43-42. Under her tutelage, BYU student-athletes achieved four All-Mountain West Conference honors and one MWC Newcomer of the Year award. Off the court, her athletes earned three academic all-district honors, seven MWC Scholar Athlete awards and 17 Academic All-MWC accolades.
Prior to coming to BYU, Goulding earned four NJCAA District I Coach of the Year honors as head coach at Salt Lake Community College, where she helped make the Bruins one of the elite junior college programs in the country.
“It’s been an honor to coach at BYU,” Goulding said. “I’m excited about the team we have put together, and for the wonderful young women that they are. I’m convinced they will be successful and be in good hands with Shawn.”
In taking over the program, Olmstead becomes the sixth head coach in BYU’s storied women’s volleyball history. The Cougars have appeared in 24 of 30 NCAA Championships while finishing in the final national polls during 21 different seasons.
“I’m honored and extremely excited to lead this program that has such a strong volleyball tradition,” Olmstead said. “I look forward to the challenges ahead and the opportunity to lead this team as we head into the West Coast Conference. I appreciate the confidence and trust the administration has in me to lead this group of student-athletes and push this program into the spotlight as a championship contender.”
A former BYU men’s volleyball player who helped the Cougars win two NCAA titles, Olmstead takes over his new responsibilities after seven seasons as an assistant coach, including the past three years at BYU. He also coached at Utah State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Utah Valley University.
“Shawn has an exceptional volleyball mind, is an excellent recruiter and has a strong love for the sport of volleyball,” Holmoe said. “We are excited to announce Shawn as our new head coach.”
As the recruiting, defense and video coordinator at BYU, Olmstead helped the Cougars land a nationally ranked recruiting class this year. While at Utah State, Olmstead was responsible for defensive game preparation and was the program's recruiting coordinator, putting together the second-best recruiting class in the Western Athletic Conference in 2007.
Olmstead spent one year as an assistant coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in 2005 where he also served as the recruiting coordinator. He helped the Mustangs achieve a 19-6 overall record, improving from 5-24 the year prior to Olmstead's arrival. Before coaching at Cal Poly, Olmstead spent one year as a volunteer assistant coach for the women's program at Utah Valley. He has also coached with IVA High Performance and at various volleyball camps.
A 2005 BYU graduate in Spanish Education, Olmstead played libero for the men's volleyball team while helping the Cougars win National Championships in 2001 and 2004 along with a national runner-up finish in 2003. During his senior season in 2004, Olmstead recorded the third-most digs in a single season in school history and earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Tournament honors.
A native of Carpinteria, Calif., Olmstead prepped at Carpinteria High School where he earned All-CIF volleyball honors as both a junior and senior along with being named his league's Most Valuable Player during his senior season. He set a school record by recording 47 kills in a match.
“I have been around volleyball my entire life, and I have been blessed to have some wonderful mentors in my lifetime, including my dad and coach Carl McGown,” Olmstead said.
Olmstead’s father, Rick Olmstead, coached volleyball at Santa Barbara City College and is a member of the California Junior College Hall of Fame. Olmstead played for American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame member Carl McGown at BYU as a freshman in 2001. His sister, Heather Olmstead, is an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Utah.
Olmstead is married to the former Farrah Hofheins, and they have two daughters and a son.
Current BYU assistant coach Emillie Toone will continue in the same capacity on Olmstead’s staff. A search to fill the vacant assistant-coach position is underway.