For the final hire of the 2024 WSU volleyball coaching staff, Kristin Watson, will join the staff after two seasons as an assistant on the Texas A&M Corpus Christi staff. 

She had previously made stops as the director of volleyball operations at Bowling Green, graduate assistant coach at Hood College and a player at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). 

In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, she has coached Maryland Juniors Volleyball Club 12 Elite, a team that made it to USAV Nationals. She also has lended her coaching talents to the club’s 13 Elite team, 14 Elite team and 15 Elite team. 

With experience playing, coaching, coordinating team travel and food accommodations as well as making coaches day-to-day schedules, she brings a swiss-army knife level of talent to the coaching staff. 

“Kristin has put herself in a position to learn from high-level coaches and programs in her career, and I’m excited for her to bring those experiences to Washington State,” said Korey Schroeder, WSU volleyball head coach, in a press release. 

With Watson on staff, Texas A&M Corpus Christi went 35-30, with an exceptionally good 2023 season wherein they achieved a record of 22-10. At best, winning 12 matches in a row, they went 16-2 in Conference play. 

While at Bowling Green, the program sported a 21-9 overall record and won the MAC East Division title in 2021, meaning Watson has overseen winning on multiple levels and at multiple different programs. 

“I am grateful to join the Washington State staff and begin building my relationships with former, current, and future Cougars,” Watson said in a press release.  “It was evident throughout my conversations with Korey that he cares about people first and strives for excellence.  I’m looking forward to getting to work with our high-character student-athletes as we embark in the new challenge of competing in the West Coast Conference this Fall,” said Watson.

Her playing career lasted from 2015 to 2018, all four years spent at UMBC after a successful high school career. 

At UMBC, she earned America East Defensive Specialist of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors in 2016, America East Second Team in 2017 and closed out her career with a consistent 2018 season. 

Tallying 1,454 career digs and 58 service aces, she brings on-court experience to the Cougs who will be utilizing a new starting libero for the first time in several years following the graduation and departure of Karly Basham.