Dillard University names Sikobe as new Lady Bleu Devils volleyball coach

New Orleans—The Dillard University Department of Athletics announced that Nancy Sikobe has been named Lady Bleu Devils head volleyball coach. "I thank God for the opportunity because he answered my prayer," said Sikobe. "I am mostly looking forward to challenging the players individually so that they can take the team to the next level."

Coach Sikobe was born in Kakamega, Kenya, and initially was a basketball player who soon turned to volleyball after watching her first ever club volleyball action. "I really loved the way they were playing and how hard they were hitting the ball," Sikobe explained. "After I saw my first club match, I walked up to the ladies and asked if I could literally touch their hand to see how hard it was, because they were really smashing the ball with power and it truly amazed me."

When looking back on her illustrious volleyball career, there is one lady that Sikobe gives credit to.

"The lady who taught me how to play volleyball and even bought me my first pair of volleyball shoes back in Africa is Kenyan volleyball legend Anne Wekhomba, and she took me under her wing and showed me how to play the game, and the rest is history."

In 2004, Sikobe had a golden opportunity to come to the United States to get an education and play volleyball at the same time, so she went to Columbia College in Missouri. Here she received freshman of the year honors as well as an All-Conference honorable mention selection in her first year at the College. In fact, in the three years that Sikobe attended the small National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school in Columbia, Missouri, the volleyball team made it to three straight NAIA national championship games, only to fall short in each of its attempts. For her senior year, she transferred to Central Methodist University where the team went 26-11, only to be ousted by her former team (Columbia) in the first round of the conference tournament. However, Sikobe joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach at Central Methodist following her final year of eligibility as a player, and in 2008 she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.

Prior to coming to the U.S., Sikobe was fortunate enough to participate in a total of three All-African Games; 1991 in Cairo, Egypt, 1995 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and 1999 in Cape Town, South Africa. She was also the captain of Two World Club Championships in Brazil in 1992 and 1993 and the captain of seven African Club Championships starting in 1992 through 2001 throughout the African continent. These accomplishments have made her a high profile rode model in Africa, not to mention she is fluent in three languages.

"First a special thank you goes to God the Almighty for opening up this door," Sikobe exclaimed. "Secondly I wish to thank President Dr. Kimbrough, athletic director Dr. Barnes and the entire Dillard University family for entrusting me to make a difference (both on and off the court) in the lives of the young ladies I will be working with. And one final special thanks goes to my son Tom and daughter Tracey for their continuous support and encouragement."

As a head coach, Sikobe has spent all of her time in the Red River Athletic Conference. She spent her first six years at Wiley College and spent the last season at Texas College. At Wiley, she led her team to the conference championship game in five out of six seasons, only to fall to national powerhouse University of Texas-Brownsville in each of those years. Furthermore, UT-B went on to win a national championship in volleyball in 2013.

When asked about the current state of the volleyball team, Sikobe firmly and confidently replied.

"We will possibly return most of our players from last year apart from one senior, and I believe we are going to have a very strong team as long as we have discipline, put in a lot of hard work, and have team work," said Sikobe. "As for the GCAC, I am expecting good competition from all the teams in the conference. I know some of the coaches in the conference and my former teams have even played some of the GCAC teams. There is no reason why we can't get back to the top here at Dillard."

Last year the Lady Bleu Devils opened the season with an eight-game losing streak and finished a mere 8-22 overall and 7-5 in conference, eventually falling to Talladega in five sets despite leading two sets to one in the quarter-final round of the 2015 GCAC Volleyball Tournament.