Younis Returns to Coach Spartans Volleyball

A 2016 graduate of Cayuga Community College is returning this fall to lead the Spartans' Volleyball program and is determined to help players develop their individual and team potential.

Kiana Younis, who played for the Spartans during her time at Cayuga, will start her coaching career this fall and is actively recruiting for the 2022-23 season. Younis is a graduate of Port Byron High School, and has been passionate about volleyball since first playing the sport in middle school.

Coaching her own team is something that Younis has wanted for years. She's looking forward to the challenge not only of leading the team during the season, but of guiding the student-athletes the same way her previous coaches helped her.

"I've wanted to coach for a long time, to remain connected with the sport and help players improve their skills. As a coach, my emphasis will be on their development and providing them what I have learned," she said. "All of the coaches that I have experienced during my volleyball career have contributed to the athlete that I was, and now the coach that I will be. I would not currently be where I am right now without them, and that's exactly what I hope to be for my team."

Younis plans to focus on fundamentals and helping her players improve both their strengths and weaknesses throughout the season. Some of that growth for the players will come by gaining experience, and realizing the challenges that come when moving from high school to the collegiate level of play.

What she sees as potentially the most important part of building the program, though, is having the Spartans work as a team. She's planning on drawing from her own experience as a player and from observing her own coaches to build the team's camaraderie.

Combining individual improvement with a team-first attitude should pay dividends on the court, said Younis.

"Teamwork is one of the most important parts of volleyball. You can't play without each other's help. You develop that teamwork and communication in practice but also by bonding through other activities. We're going to incorporate that, to help everyone get on the same page as a team so that on the court we're playing for each other," she said.

Volleyball's season begins Saturday, September 10, with a POD at Tompkins Cortland Community College against the Panthers and Corning and SUNY Broome Community Colleges.