Vanguard University

Marissa (Cothran) Booker came to the Lions for her sophomore year as a walk-on after playing one season at Golden West College. A CIF State Champion at Newport Harbor High School, she was a member of the Sailors when they were ranked second in the country and she was an All-League player as a senior, making her mark as a three-sport athlete. At Vanguard, she was recognized as a GSAC Setter of the Week twice, was a two-time All-GSAC performer, a GSAC and NAIA Scholar-Athlete, the Vanguard Female Champion of Character winner, and an NAIA LeRoy Walker Award finalist.  She served as team captain and was recognized by then Head Coach Erikka Gulbranson for her undeterred ability to compete under any circumstance and a strong leadership style. She was the first setter to put Vanguard Volleyball on the map, a tradition that has gained momentum since then. 

By the end of her Vanguard career, she had 3,745 assists to go along with 124 service aces. She ranks seventh all-time in total service aces, fourth in program history with a service percentage of .970 across 1,583 total services, sixth in assist percentage (.445 connecting on 3,785 of a total 4,539 chances), and seventh in total serve attempts. Marissa holds the school record of total 3,745 total assists which is nearly 500 more than second place, and she accomplished the feat in three seasons instead of four.  She averaged 10.95 assists per set, tops all-time and 1.30 more than the next nearest student-athlete. 

Prior to the 2006 season, she returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach and was then promoted the head coach entering the 2008 season. In her three years at the helm, Marissa guided the Lions to a 49-42 record and was 74-72 in five total seasons as a coach at Vanguard. In her first year as head coach, Vanguard made the NAIA National Tournament for only the second time in history, the first such occurrence being in her first season as an assistant. She also lofted the Blue and Gold to a ranking in the Top 25 for the first time in program history and finished her coaching career with two trips to the NAIA National Tournament and the team being ranked as high as 11th during her tenure. 

As the 10th head coach in Vanguard Women’s Volleyball history, she coached, three All-GSAC Players, as well as seven GSAC and NAIA Scholar Athletes. Her 2008 and 2009 squads were recognized as NAIA Scholar Teams and in 2009, Heather DeJongh was an NAIA All-American First Team under her watchful eye.

She graduated from Vanguard with her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and then enrolled into VU’s Graduate Education program with the career goal of being a Special Education Teacher.
 

Season	sp-mp	K	K/S	E	TA	%	A	A/S	SA	SA/S	SE
2003	90-26	73	0.81	16	191	.298	963	10.70	38	0.42	15
2004	134-37	163	1.22	27	421	.323	1451	10.83	44	0.33	21
2005	118-33	155	1.31	29	378	.333	1331	11.28	42	0.36	12
TOTAL..	342-96	391	1.14	72	990	.322	3745	10.95	124	0.36	48

 

Season	Dig	D/S	RE	BS	BA	TB	B/S	BE	BHE
2003	156	1.73	2	3	27	30	0.33	2	12
2004	355	2.65	0	6	23	29	0.22	8	21
2005	334	2.83	1	2	28	30	0.25	4	26
TOTAL..	845	2.47	3	11	78	89	0.26	14	59