Completed Event: Volleyball versus Georgia Southern on October 25, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 2 , (27-25, 23-25, 25-13, 22-25, 15-10)
VB
Final
James Madison
3
vs Georgia Southern
(27-25, 23-25, 25-13, 22-25, 15-10)
2
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Volleyball
Traci Plungas
- Title:
- Assistant Head Coach
Traci Plungas was officially elevated to the role of Assistant Head Coach by Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher on Feb. 26, 2026. She spent the 2025 season with the Dukes as a volunteer assistant.Â
"There are very few people in this profession that I trust more than Traci Plungas," Steinbrecher said. "She is thoughtful, competitive, and deeply committed to the student-athlete experience. Her volleyball IQ is exceptional, her energy is elite and she has changed our program for the better during her time here. I am immensely grateful to have Traci as our Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator and to have her husband, Dave, and her beautiful daughters, Viola and Isla, in our volleyball family. The future of our program is incredibly bright!"
In her season as a volunteer assistant in 2025, Plungas helped the Dukes finish with a 22-9 record and a Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship. She coached Ayen Nhial to All-Sun Belt Second Team honors, as the middle finished with 165 blocks, tied for the second-most for a JMU player in the rally-scoring era (2001-present).
"From walking into the office and talking volleyball with Lauren to meeting our incredible team, I knew that there was something special here," Plungas said. "It didn't take me long to figure out that it was the people that made this place so mesmerizing. JMU's culture, people, and community just make you want to give everything you have because you know without asking, they would/will do the same for you. I barely let Lauren finish her sentence when she asked me to come on full time because I wanted to continue to build and be a part of the magic that this team, staff, school, and community have."'
Prior to her time at JMU, Plungas spent four seasons as an assistant coach at West Virginia (2020-23), In her second season, Plungas helped the Mountaineers make their postseason debut for the first time in program history, when the squad earned its first-ever at-large bid in the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.Â
West Virginia finished the 2021 season at 19-10 and 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference. Following the 2021 season, six individuals finished the season in the top-10 of four Big 12 categories, while Lacey Zerwas and Skye Stokes ranked in the NCAA top-50 in assists and service aces, respectively.
Plungas helped the Mountaineers recruit two of the top-150 players of the 2022 recruiting class, Jordyn Schilling and Tierney Jackson. Prep Volleyball also ranked West Virginia's class 25th nationally.Â
Plungas joined the Mountaineer staff after spending two-years as an assistant at Colgate. While at Colgate, Plungas helped the Raiders post a 24-8 overall record in 2019, with the wins total tying the second-most in program history in the Division I era. The squad also earned the Patriot League regular-season title after recording a 15-1 mark in league action. Following a successful regular season, the Raiders advanced to the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC) Quarterfinals in postseason play.
Plungas arrived at Colgate after a five-year stint on the Albany volleyball staff, serving as an assistant coach from 2015-17, after a two-year stint as the team’s graduate assistant. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Great Danes from 2009-13.
As a student-athlete at UAlbany, Plungas served as a six-rotation player, leading the Great Danes to a pair of America East titles in 2010 and 2011. She tallied 732 kills, 653 digs, 219 total blocks and 48 service aces in her career, earning All-America East Second Team honors as a senior.
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Plungas graduated from UAlbany with a bachelor’s degree in history and English in 2013. She later received her master’s in secondary education in 2015. During that time, she spent time on the club circuit, serving as the head coach of the Legion Volleyball Club from 2010-16.
"There are very few people in this profession that I trust more than Traci Plungas," Steinbrecher said. "She is thoughtful, competitive, and deeply committed to the student-athlete experience. Her volleyball IQ is exceptional, her energy is elite and she has changed our program for the better during her time here. I am immensely grateful to have Traci as our Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator and to have her husband, Dave, and her beautiful daughters, Viola and Isla, in our volleyball family. The future of our program is incredibly bright!"
In her season as a volunteer assistant in 2025, Plungas helped the Dukes finish with a 22-9 record and a Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship. She coached Ayen Nhial to All-Sun Belt Second Team honors, as the middle finished with 165 blocks, tied for the second-most for a JMU player in the rally-scoring era (2001-present).
"From walking into the office and talking volleyball with Lauren to meeting our incredible team, I knew that there was something special here," Plungas said. "It didn't take me long to figure out that it was the people that made this place so mesmerizing. JMU's culture, people, and community just make you want to give everything you have because you know without asking, they would/will do the same for you. I barely let Lauren finish her sentence when she asked me to come on full time because I wanted to continue to build and be a part of the magic that this team, staff, school, and community have."'
Prior to her time at JMU, Plungas spent four seasons as an assistant coach at West Virginia (2020-23), In her second season, Plungas helped the Mountaineers make their postseason debut for the first time in program history, when the squad earned its first-ever at-large bid in the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.Â
West Virginia finished the 2021 season at 19-10 and 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference. Following the 2021 season, six individuals finished the season in the top-10 of four Big 12 categories, while Lacey Zerwas and Skye Stokes ranked in the NCAA top-50 in assists and service aces, respectively.
Plungas helped the Mountaineers recruit two of the top-150 players of the 2022 recruiting class, Jordyn Schilling and Tierney Jackson. Prep Volleyball also ranked West Virginia's class 25th nationally.Â
Plungas joined the Mountaineer staff after spending two-years as an assistant at Colgate. While at Colgate, Plungas helped the Raiders post a 24-8 overall record in 2019, with the wins total tying the second-most in program history in the Division I era. The squad also earned the Patriot League regular-season title after recording a 15-1 mark in league action. Following a successful regular season, the Raiders advanced to the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC) Quarterfinals in postseason play.
Plungas arrived at Colgate after a five-year stint on the Albany volleyball staff, serving as an assistant coach from 2015-17, after a two-year stint as the team’s graduate assistant. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Great Danes from 2009-13.
As a student-athlete at UAlbany, Plungas served as a six-rotation player, leading the Great Danes to a pair of America East titles in 2010 and 2011. She tallied 732 kills, 653 digs, 219 total blocks and 48 service aces in her career, earning All-America East Second Team honors as a senior.
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Plungas graduated from UAlbany with a bachelor’s degree in history and English in 2013. She later received her master’s in secondary education in 2015. During that time, she spent time on the club circuit, serving as the head coach of the Legion Volleyball Club from 2010-16.
Plungas and her husband, Dave, who is the Assistant Head Coach/Outside Linebackers coach at James Madison, have two daughters - Viola and Isla.Â
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