Head Coach Julie Darty Dennis
Julie Darty Dennis has built Mississippi State volleyball into a championship caliber program and guided the Bulldogs to new heights in her six seasons as head coach.
After being introduced on January 10, 2018, Dennis rolled up her sleeves using the core values of pride, authenticity, actions over words and finish as the building blocks to numerous program firsts over the last six seasons.
In 2023, the team finished with a 13-15 record, including a 6-12 SEC record that featured a Top 15 victory against No. 14 Florida (Oct. 13). It was the second time in program history and the first time at home the Bulldogs earned win over the Gators. State also collected wins against Western Michigan (Sept. 8) and SEC foe Auburn (Nov. 15), who received bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Dennis coached three student-athletes to SEC weekly honors in 2023. Libero Lauren Myrick tabbed her first SEC weekly honor by being named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, while middle blocker Zoe Gonzales collected her first SEC Defensive Player of the Week. Right side Amina Shackelford earned SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, the first of her career. Off the court, middle blocker Rebecca Walk was named to the SEC Community Service Team for the third consecutive year and College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team for the second consecutive year.
Bringing back 13 returners – including six starters from 2021, and a stellar recruiting class – the Bulldogs dived head-first into a challenging 2022 campaign. The team went 7-3 in non-conference play, which included six sweeps. Overall, the Bulldogs finished 15-13 and 8-10 in conference play.
Within the 28-game slate, the 2022 season under Dennis was highlighted by a 3-0 sweep of No. 23 Arkansas, coupled with a home victory over Georgia, a road win over LSU and Ball State in non-conference. All four teams made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament that year.
In 2022, right-side hitter Gabby Waden notched a AVCA South All-Region recognition for the third season and is the only player in program history to earn AVCA South All-Region accolades more than once. The South Carolina native also received a spot on the All-SEC team for the third consecutive season, making her the only Bulldog to earn the honor three times.
During the 2022 season, Mississippi State collected five SEC weekly honors by three Bulldogs. Gabby Coulter locked down SEC Setter of the Week on two separate occasions, which marked her third time earning the honor. Coulter is the only player in program history to earn SEC Setter of the Week. Libero Lilly Gunter earned Defensive Player of the Week and Co-Defensive Player of the Week, while Sania Petties claimed a Co-Offensive Player of the Week nod.
Deja Robinson, Waden and Coulter have made their impact on State’s record book under Dennis. Robinson sits first in total blocks (502), first in block assists (417) and second in solo blocks (85), whereas Waden sits second in hitting percentage (.293) and climbed to second in kills (1,515). With three seasons in the Maroon and White, Coulter garnered 1,877 assists to place her seventh in assists in the MSU record book.
State has risen in the SEC standings during each season of the Dennis era headlined by an unprecedented 2021 season which saw a massive leap forward to second place and the most successful campaign in school history.
The Bulldogs rewrote the record books by posting a 25-6 record and a 16-2 SEC mark. The 25 overall wins and 16 conference victories shattered program single-season records in both categories. Another first for the Maroon and White was an initial No. 24 ranking on November 15 and a No. 23 ranking a week later to conclude the regular season in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.
State ended the regular season on a high note and amassed 13 straight wins, all against SEC opponents. The Bulldogs heard their name called on selection Sunday in route to capturing the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. The 13-game streak to end the regular season was the SEC’s longest and tied for sixth-longest run in the country.
Within the 31-game slate, the Bulldogs earned the program’s first win over No. 17 Florida coupled with a home sweep of No. 24 Tennessee, a reverse-sweep comeback victory at rival Ole Miss and table-setting triumphs over Big Ten (Indiana) and Big 12 (Oklahoma) opponents in the nonconference.
Following the record-setting 2021 season, Dennis was showered with AVCA South Region and SEC Coach of the Year accolades. She also was awarded a contract extension through 2025.
A program single-season record four players tucked away AVCA All-South honors under Dennis’ guidance. Waden became the fourth player in program history to notch AVCA All-America Honorable Mention status and was the program’s first player to secure AVCA All-South Region selections in back-to-back seasons. The South Carolina native also was the second player in program history to dial up All-SEC honors for the second consecutive season.
Gunter notched AVCA All-South Honorable Mention during the 2020-21 season and earned an AVCA All-South Region Team pick in 2021. Additionally, Shania Cromartie and Myrick each picked up AVCA All-South Region Honorable Mention.
Mississippi State racked up a program single-season record 10 SEC weekly awards by six Bulldogs during the 2021 season. Cromartie, Waden and Walk each locked down at least a share of the SEC Player of the Week and the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award. Gunter came away with two SEC Defensive Player of the Week selections, while Robinson earned a SEC Co-Defensive Player nod, and Coulter registered SEC Co-Setter of the Week which marked State’s first time winning the league’s weekly setter award.
State’s first three seasons with Dennis at the helm were highlighted by road wins at No. 7 Texas A&M in 2020-21 and an 11-1 start in 2019 which tied the best 12-match run to open a season in program history (1992, 2000).
Part of the 2019 team’s success came from anchoring performances courtesy of seniors Alleah Stamatis and Amarrah Cooks, two student-athletes that played under Dennis at her previous post at Jacksonville. The duo tallied all-conference honors for the Dolphins and their success translated immediately into the SEC as Stamatis became just the seventh State setter to collect 1,000 assists in a season. Cooks, a middle blocker, led all qualified attackers with a sparkling .303 hitting percentage during both of her season in Maroon and White.
Another staple of Dennis’ program has been exceptional academic success. In July 2020, the program worked its way to its first AVCA Team Academic Award since 2010 and fifth all-time. During all four seasons of her season at the helm, MSU has had at least nine SEC academic honor roll selections (fall academic honor roll plus first-year honor roll). In 2021, MSU boasted a program-record 12 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll members eclipsing a program mark for the second straight year.
Prior to her arrival in Starkville, Dennis turned Jacksonville into one of the Atlantic Sun’s top programs. The 2013 and 2014 AVCA “Thirty under 30” award winner, she led the Dolphins to the 2014 Atlantic Sun Tournament championship and an NCAA tournament appearance during her first year as a collegiate head coach.
During her Jacksonville tenure (2014-17), Dennis coached 11 All-Atlantic Sun honorees, including five first-team selections, alongside five ASUN All-Tournament selections and three ASUN All-Academic Team members. In her final season in Jacksonville, she guided the Dolphins to an 18-10 overall record and a 9-2 home mark, while overcoming adversity left in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Jacksonville’s Swisher Gymnasium was unplayable for much of the season, and the Dolphins were forced to practice and play in several area gymnasiums.
The Dolphins also finished the season with a 12-2 mark against ASUN Conference opponents to earn the No. 2 seed in the league tournament. It was the first time since the 2013 season that Jacksonville posted 10 or more wins in the ASUN and received higher than the third seed in the ASUN tournament. Six Dolphins earned All-ASUN accolades and Mackenzie Swan was the second player under Dennis's leadership to earn ASUN Defensive Player of the Year accolades.
Dennis posted 58 career wins in four seasons, and she earned her 50th career victory in 2017 – a 3-1 victory over Kennesaw State. Other notable victories during her tenure included a 3-1 triumph over Lipscomb, which crowned the Dolphins the 2014 ASUN Tournament Champions; a 3-2 defeat win Stephen F. Austin in 2015; a 3-0 sweep of Presbyterian in 2016; and a 3-2 conquest over Bethune-Cookman in 2017 to push JU to 51-0 all-time against the Wildcats.
In 2017, Dennis’s squad ranked first in overall digs in the Atlantic Sun with 1,846. Jacksonville finished 38th in the NCAA and first in the conference with 16.94 digs per set. The Dolphins also finished third in the ASUN with 1,425 team kills and 211.5 total blocks.
In January 2017, Dennis also took on the role of director of volleyball over the university’s beach program. Under Dennis’s tutelage, the team captured back-to-back appearances in the ASUN Championship (2015-16), and the 2016 season also saw the Dolphins sweep South Carolina in the Gamecock Invitational.
In her first season with the Dolphins and her first year as a head coach, Dennis led the indoor program to its third conference tournament championship. Jacksonville won four of its final five ASUN matches to earn the No. 3 seed in the league tournament. Defeating each opponent, 3-1, the Dolphins were crowned the 2014 ASUN Champions, earning an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Year two saw an improved win mark in league play (8-6) and several league distinctions including All-Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year, two All-Atlantic Sun First Team honors, an Academic All-Conference honor, and an All-Atlantic Sun Tournament honor.
Before Jacksonville, Dennis spent two seasons at the University of South Carolina (2012-13) where she was the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Gamecocks. After the 2012 season, she was named to the AVCA’s “Thirty Under 30” list as one of the rising stars in the coaching world. In her time in Columbia, the Gamecocks won 30 games and posted just their second winning record in a decade during the 2012 season.
Prior to South Carolina, Dennis spent a pair of seasons at Villanova University, where the Wildcats posted back-to-back top-four finishes in the 15-team Big East in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. She got her start as an assistant coach at Lake Mary (Fla.) High School. At the same time, she helped with two club teams in the Orlando area.
As a student-athlete, Dennis was a standout at Mercer University from 2004-07. In all four seasons, she led the Bears in kills per set. As a sophomore in 2005, she compiled a team-best .277 attacking percentage. In the Mercer record book, Dennis currently holds the second-place spot in career kills (1,264) and career kills per set (3.18), while having the third-most career total attacks (3,376) and the fourth-most blocking assists in a single season (92 in 2006). In 2004, Dennis earned A-Sun All-Freshman honors.
Dennis graduated from Mercer with a degree in communications. She married Bryan Dennis in May 2020. The couple have one son, Walker Jackson, who was born in April 2024.
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