Jason Skoch

Head Volleyball Coach

Jason Skoch became the eighth head coach in the history of the Truman volleyball program when he was named to the position in May of 2005.

During his first two seasons as a Bulldog, he has kept the program amongst the nation’s elite, as evidenced by a 68-8 overall record and two trips to the national tournament. The record marks the highest winning percentage for a Bulldog coach after two seasons.

In 2005, the Bulldogs finished second in conference play and won the MIAA postseason tournament. Eleven of the team’s victories came against nationally ranked opponents, including eight against squads ranked 11th or better in the final national ranking.

Truman capped off Skoch’s first season by winning the South Central regional tournament against the toughest field in NCAA South Central regional history. After advancing through the first-round with a 3-1 win, the Bulldogs swept ranked rivals Central Missouri and Washburn for the title.

With most of the players from 2005 returning for Skoch’s second season at the wheel, Truman rolled through the MIAA, going undefeated at 13-0 and capturing both the conference’s tournament championship. The squad was selected to host the South Central Regional, but after winning its opening round game, the Bulldogs dropped a five-set affair in the regional semifinals. Throughout the year, Truman was ranked in the top-10 in every weekly poll, including being ranked first five times during the season.

After both Sarah Shearman and Kelsey Wackerman received first-team all-American honors in 2005, Shearman did it once again in 2006, while Wackerman followed up her 2005 recognition with a second-team selection in 2006. Allie Cherven, a 2006 transfer, received honorable mention status.

Skoch was named conference coach of year for the first time in 2006, and after six athletes were named to the MIAA commissioner’s academic honor roll in 2005, five more received the award in 2006. Shearman was also a first-team academic all-district selection, and she was selected as the female recipient for the Ken B. Jones award which is given to the top MIAA student-athlete.

Skoch came to Truman after spending one season as an assistant coach at Mississippi State University.

He was part of a first-year coaching staff which led Mississippi State to an improvement of 11 wins overall and tied a school record for the most wins in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play.

His responsibilities there included recruiting, logistics, game/practice planning and opponent scouting.

Skoch also had previous NCAA Division II experience as he was an assistant coach at Central Oklahoma in 2003. That season, Central Oklahoma went 23-7 and advanced to the tournament finals in the Lone Star Conference.

Other coaching experience for Skoch includes spending one season as head coach with the Stillwater Volleyball Club and the Kaeppa Oklahoma Charge Volleyball Club. He is a former player with club teams at Penn State University, the University of Memphis and Oklahoma State University.

Skoch earned a bachelor of science degree from Oklahoma State in 1998 with a major in statistics and a minor in mathematics. He earned a master of science in statistics from Penn State in 2001.

Skoch and his wife, Karen, reside in Kirksville.