Riley Jarrett, an energetic and passionate young coach who has spent her entire volleyball career in the region, is the 11th head coach of the Youngstown State University volleyball program. YSU Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo announced Jarrett's hiring on April 9, 2024.
A native of Lorain, Ohio, and a winner of the AVCA’s Thirty-Under-30 Award, Jarrett came to Youngstown after spending the previous four seasons running a successful Division II program at West Liberty University in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.
In her first season at Youngstown State, the Penguins showed potential for the future with several notable performances at both the team and individual levels.
YSU won four of its final six non-conference matches in 2024, which included its first sweep of Kent State in 43 years. The Penguins then beat Mercyhurst 3-0 four days later to record back-to-back home sweeps for the first time since 2000. YSU’s defense keyed the two wins as both opponents posted a negative attack percentage, and the Penguins displayed a gritty defense throughout the campaign.
Youngstown State registered 17.28 digs per set, which ranked second in the Horizon League and 16th in the country in 2024. The Penguins improved their digs average by 2.05 per set compared with 2023, and they had their second-highest average since 25-point rally-scoring began in 2008. YSU had 96 digs, the most in a match in nearly two years, against LIU in Jarrett’s first victory leading the Penguins.
Youngstown State began November by winning six straight sets against Oakland at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center to celebrate Senior Weekend. YSU rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Golden Grizzlies on Nov. 1 and record the first reverse sweep at home since at least 1998. It was the Penguins’ first win in Youngstown over Oakland in 24 years, and they followed that up with their first 3-0 victory since 1998 a day later. Youngstown State had its best hitting percentage ever in a Horizon League contest at .362 with 47 kills and just nine errors in 105 attempts against the Golden Grizzlies.
Individually, outside hitter Abbie Householder took a big leap forward in her development and was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team. Householder ranked second in the conference in both kills and points per set in 2024, and she was the only player in the conference to rank among the top 12 in both kills and digs per set. Her 440 kills were the fourth-most in program history, and she was the fifth Penguin to reach 500 points in a single season.
Householder was also named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team, and she was an Academic All-District Selection along with Maria Insana, Isabel Schaefabuer and Nyia Setla. Setla, who followed Jarrett to YSU from West Liberty, averaged 4.20 digs per set in her lone season as a Penguin, which was the fourth-best in the rally-scoring format.
Jarrett led West Liberty to its highest prominence at the Division II level as its head coach from 2020-23, and she leaves WLU with the highest career winning percentage of any coach in program history. The Hilltoppers won more than 64% of their matches with Jarrett at the helm, and they won 65 contests over the last three seasons. Her tenure at WLU ended with the Hilltoppers making their first two appearances in program history at the NCAA Division II Tournament, and the team appeared in all nine sets of regional rankings over the last three seasons.
In 2023, West Liberty went 23-10 to secure its third straight 20-win season under Jarrett's leadership and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. The 23 victories tied for the fourth-most in program history, and the Hilltoppers won nine out of 11 matches heading into the semifinals of the Mountain East Conference Tournament.
Jarrett's 2022 squad took a step forward as the team made the first postseason appearance in program history at the Atlantic Regional of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Hilltoppers went 10-6 in MEC play for the second straight season, and they reached double-digits in conference victories in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. That streak extended to three in 2023 as WLU was 10-4 against conference opponents.
WLU went 21-13 in 2021 and tied for second in the North Division of the MEC. The Hilltoppers began their trend of being among the top teams in the Atlantic Region as they were ranked as high as ninth during the season, and they surpassed that ranking in both 2022 and 2023. That 2021 fall campaign came after WLU was 7-4 during the spring in Jarrett's first season that was shifted due to the pandemic.
Individually, Jarrett coached the only two NCAA Division II All-Americans in West Liberty history. Nyia Setla was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2023 and a Third-Team All-American by the D2CCA in 2022. Madison Clayton was an Honorable Mention All-American by both organizations in 2021. Setla was named the Mountain East Conference Libero of the Year in each of the last two seasons. Jarrett's recruiting efforts were notable as West Liberty had a freshman honored on the all-conference freshman team each season.
Jarrett's first two years of her coaching career were at West Liberty in a graduate assistant role under Kayla Mull. In Jarrett's initial season on the hilltop with Mull, West Liberty went 24-10 and received a regional ranking for the first time in program history and finished second in the Mountain East Conference standings.
Between her stops at West Liberty, Jarrett spent seven months as the lead assistant coach for the women's and men's volleyball programs at Penn State-Behrend. The men's team was off to an 11-6 start when the season ended early in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was hired at PSU-Behrend in February 2020, and she took the head coaching opportunity at West Liberty that September when Mull stepped down.
Jarrett was a four-year starter and a two-time all-conference honoree as a setter at Division III Mount Union University in Alliance, Ohio. She ended her career for the Purple Raiders ranking among the program's top 10 in career hitting percentage, career assists, and career assists per set. During her senior season, she registered 917 assists, posted two triple-doubles, and was named All-Ohio Athletic Conference First Team and AVCA Great Lakes All-Region Honorable Mention. While she was an undergraduate student, she served as the Head Volleyball Coach for the 15-year-old Junior Olympic Team at the Tri-State Volleyball Academy.
Jarrett graduated from Mount Union in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in sports business with a double minor in business administration and psychology. She earned her Master's of Education sports leadership and coaching from West Liberty in 2020.
Jarrett’s husband, Joel, is also a Youngstown State employee as a coordinator in the office of undergraduate admissions. They have a son named Luke, who was born in March 2025.
