When conversations are had regarding the evolution of Capital Volleyball and women's sports at Capital University, Pam Briggs will most certainly be one of the headliners guiding the conversation.
Coach Briggs came to Capital in 1990 as an assistant coach and saw two coaching changes before becoming the head coach herself in 1993. A product of Kent State University, the experience and leadership gathered along her prominent Division I playing career paid immediate dividends when in her first season the Crusaders went from a seven-win team to 19 wins. Her first victory came against Earlham College in straight sets on Sept. 4, 1993. That was just the beginning.
Three times over the course of her career, Briggs led the Crusaders to resetting the single-season team wins mark, which now stands at 32 after the 2005 squad achieved that feat. She did so first in 1995 when in just her third season, the Purple and White garnered 28 wins to just six losses and finished the conference season 8-1, the best OAC record for any Capital team and something only two other teams have done in the program's history – all three under the direction of Briggs. The next year, Capital repeated that effort and won the program's first OAC Regular Season Championship.
Amid some transition and a new facility for Capital Athletics, Briggs christened The Capital Center with its first taste of victory on Sept. 7, 2001 when the Crusaders defeated Wilmington College and Bluffton College in straight sets on the same day. The 2001 season also set a lengthy streak into motion, marking the first of eight consecutive years with 20 more wins in a season.
Briggs amassed 436 career victories and more than 100 OAC wins over 23 years as the head volleyball coach at Capital University, easily attaining the title of winningest coach in program history. Twice she guided her teams into the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament (2005, 2006) and earned the program's first win at the national tournament in 2006 when the Crusaders beat Coe College in the opening round. Over her career, she was named the OAC Coach of the Year in 1995 and 2002, and in 2005 was both the OAC and AVCA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year.
As impressive as her teams' accolades are, the awards the players accumulated under her direction are equaled impressive, attesting to the quality of the student-athletes that made up the program. On the court, Briggs' teams produced five American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, five Ohio Athletic Conference Players of the Year selections, eight Great Lakes All-Region picks, and two OAC Freshman of the Year honorees. In addition, 35 of Briggs' players earned All-OAC awards, including 12 first team honors.
Her players were exemplary students, as well. Fifty-three players have been named to the Academic All-OAC Team, which has fueled a number of individuals recognized on a national level. Capital Volleyball has had eight players named ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District, and five times the program had a player represented on the Academic All-America Team. Of those five, two (Carrie Ferguson, Nici Workman) were named Academic All-American of the Year. Â
Briggs is also credited for starting the women's golf program at Capital and fielded the first team in 2000. She held that position through the 2011 season and coached student-athletes that collected six all-conference awards and five academic all-conference honors.
Briggs is a 1987 graduate of Kent State where she was an outside hitter for the Golden Flashes volleyball program. She earned her master's degree in education from the University of Dayton in 1987 before returning to her hometown of Reynoldsburg, Ohio to begin her coaching career at her alma mater, Reynoldsburg High School. She is married to Robert (Bob) Briggs and together live in Columbus.
