Directors

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Directors

Lyndsay Mashe - Director

Lyndsay will be in her 2nd year as Club Director for East Texas Juniors. She is the Head Volleyball Coach at East Texas Baptist University. Under Lyndsay's direction ETBU has either won or shared the American Southwest Conference East Division championship two out of the last four years. The Lady Tigers now have a streak of nine straight conference tournament appearances.

Mashe has been able to continue building on the tradition she helped establish at ETBU as a player. She joined the Lady Tigers prior to the 2003 season after playing her first two seasons of eligibility at Panola College, and helped lead ETBU to the last of three straight ASC titles in 2003.

Mashe, formerly Lyndsay Simpson during her playing days at ETBU, earned All-American Southwest Conference recognition as a player in 2003 and 2004, first as a defensive specialist/libero in '03 and then as the Lady Tiger setter in her senior year of 2004. She still ranks third all-time on the Lady Tigers' career assists list, with 1,524.

Before joining ETBU, Mashe won back-to-back all-conference recognition as Panola's setter. Prior to that she was a highly-touted setter coming out of Pine Tree High School in Longview, Texas, where she earned all-state honors for the tradition-rich Lady Pirates.

After graduating in May 2005 with a B.S.E., Mashe took her first head coaching job at Atlanta (TX) High School and guided the Lady Rabbits to a 24-10 record and a playoff run that went two rounds deep in Class 3A. Former ETBU coach Suzanne Wingrove, who won three ASC titles in five seasons as head coach from 2001-05 and who recruited Lyndsay to ETBU, resigned in January of 2006 to spend more time with family. Mashe was then hired as head coach at her alma mater less than a year after graduation, and she quickly set about building a reputation as one of the brightest young coaches in the league.

Kris Mashe - Asst. Director/ Recruiting Coordinator

Kris is the Asst. Volleyball Coach at East Texas Baptist Univeristy. Kris has over 15 years playing experience indoor and outdoor. Kris joined the ETBU staff shortly after his wife Lyndsay was named head coach in February of 2006. The Lady Tigers won the program's first American Southwest Conference East Division championship since 2002 in his first season on staff, winning 19 of their final 25 games and going 15-2 in conference play. Kris attended the University of North Texas.

Nicole McCray Thorn - Board Member

Former University of Florida All-American middle blocker Nicole McCray Thorn enters her third season as head coach at Panola College. In 2003, Thorn landed her first job as the head coach at Berry College in Rome, Ga., where she led the Vikings to an amazing turnaround that saw the team improve from a 10-25 season in its first year to 22-17 in its second. She coached three all-conference players in 2004, including the Southern States Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Thorn was the first African-American head coach and the first female head coach in school history at Berry.

In her first season at Panola, Thorn finished the year with a 17-15 record and ended the season with a loss to Blinn College (2008 National Champions) in the Region XIV Semi-Final match. Thorn coached four All-Conference players and would later be ranked fifth in the country for the highest team GPA amongst Junior College Programs. The 2009 season would rewrite the history books as the Fillies advanced to the National Championship Tournament for the first time in school history with a win against the #2 ranked Blinn College in the Region XIV Championship match. The Fillies finished the season 28-9 and tied for 11^th at the National Championship Tournament.

The Longview, Texas native is well-known in volleyball circles for her accomplishments at Florida, where she helped lead the Gators to the 2002 NCAA Final Four as a senior and was a member of five straight Southeastern Conference championships, which includes a red-shirt year as freshman. The Gators also reached the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight twice and sweet Sixteen once while McCray was in uniform. Florida advanced to the Final Four in 1998 and 2002. A second-team All-American in 2002, she also earned honorable mention All-America honors as a sophomore and junior. McCray was recognized as the SEC’s Conference Player of the Year in 2000 and was a four-time All-SEC selection. McCray graduated as Florida’s second-leading blocker with 529 total blocks, and her name appears throughout the Gators’ record books. When she graduated, McCray was fourth on UF’s career kills list (1,274 kills), seventh in hitting percentage (.352), eighth in games played (442), 10th in total attacks (2,533) and 10th in matches played (137). Her .402 hitting percentage in 2002 is the fifth best single season mark in school history. As a senior, she was the recipient of the Ben Hill Griffin Award, honoring Florida’s top female student-athlete. She was also awarded the Sophia Witherspoon Award, presented to the top male and female athletes who exemplify the positive attitude and strong work ethic in the classroom that they display on the playing field. As a senior she received the Tracey Caulkins Award, given to the senior who possesses the traits of academic achievement, athletic achievement, leadership and involvement in the community. McCray also played professionally in Puerto Rico’s Superior League for the Conquistadores de Guaynabo, based in San Juan, which competed for the league’s championship in 2003.

Prior to her stint at Florida, McCray played internationally for the United States Junior National Team in 1998 and the USA Youth National Team in 1997. She was a first-team All-State selection for four years at Pine Tree High School and a two-time District MVP. She played club volleyball for East Texas Juniors and Texas Sport under Todd Lyles who assisted Thorn in her first season. In 1998, she was inducted into the Pine Tree High School Hall of Fame for her academic and athletic achievements during her four years. She received her B.S. in commercial recreation from Florida in May 2002. McCray’s younger sister Amber, finished her career in the fall of 2007 as a dominate force on the right-side for Florida. Amber received a number of All-Tournament and MVP awards as well as being named an All-American in 2006. Amber received her Master’s Degree in Sport Management from UF in May 2009. Nicole married Rufus Thorn on August 8, 2009. The couple and their son Jordan (2) reside in Longview, Texas.