Jen Houk - Women's Volleyball Coach - Montana State University Athletics

Jen Houk

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
Jennifer.houk@msubobcats.com
Phone:
612.590.7846

    Jen Houk enters her second season with the Bobcats after helping MSU to its best season ever in the Big Sky Conference era.

   As associate head coach, Houk oversaw the Bobcats’ offensive side of the net, leading the team to a .223 overall attack mark, the highest efficiency rating for MSU since the 2002 season.

   In addition, the Bobcats averaged 16.78 points per set, which ranked among the top three in the Big Sky Conference.

   Houk also saw senior Kira Thomsen lead the Big Sky averaging 4.20 kills and 4.78 points per set. Thomsen culminated her final year being named VolleyballMag.com All-America Honorable mention.

   MSU’s 24 overall victories were a Bobcat school record.

   Prior to making the move to Bozeman, Houk served five seasons as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Minnesota.

    Houk brought a wealth of volleyball experience to Bozeman as a head coach, an assistant coach, a recruiting coordinator and a former NCAA Division I student-athlete. Most recently, she served as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the Golden Gophers and played a key role in guiding Minnesota to a 22-9 overall mark and a 15-5 Big Ten ledger in 2022.

    During her tenure at Minnesota, the Golden Gophers made five Sweet 16’s, an Elite Eight and a Final Four appearance. Houk coached six All-Big Ten honorees in 2022, including Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair and fellow First Team All-Big Ten selections Melani Shaffmaster and Carter Booth. Graduate libero CC McGraw earned second team honors while Booth and outside Mckenna Wucherer were Big Ten All-Freshman Team selections.

   Prior to her time at UM, she spent one season as head coach at South Dakota Mines. She made the move to Rapid City, S.D., after serving as Illinois’ director of volleyball operations in 2016. Houk joined the Fighting Illini after a three-year stint at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she was an assistant coach with the Redhawks volleyball team, followed by moving into an administrative assistant role with the business office.

    While at Miami (OH), she earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) 30 Under 30 Award and was also given the Miami Pride Award. In May of 2014, Houk moved to the Redhawks business office, where she worked as the primary point of contact for nine sports, sports medicine, and the marketing department. She also served on the Council of Diversity and Inclusion for the university senate and the Classified Personnel Advisory Committee.

   Houk served as an assistant coach at Maryland Baltimore County in 2012. She also has experience with the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball team, where she was a technical assistant in 2011 and served as an intern in the summer of 2010.

   During her professional career, she has numerous years of experience working as a head and assistant coach for the Borderline Volleyball Club, T-Street Volleyball Club, Colorado North Starts, Grand Valley High School and Premier Volleyball Club.

   Houk started her collegiate playing career at Northeastern Junior College (Colo.) in 2003, before transferring to Colorado State for her senior season in 2006. She earned her bachelor’s degree in animal science from CSU. Following her playing career, Houk served as an interim assistant coach and technical coordinator for the Rams.