2010 marks the third season as a collegiate head coach for Marissa, after two seasons as an assistant coach in the Vanguard volleyball program. Booker has an overall record of 35-27, and has finished both campaigns by leading her team to the NAIA National Tournament and a top-25 national ranking.
The 2009 Lions finished with an overall record of 17-15, including an 11-9 mark in the GSAC. Ranked No. 11 to end the season, Vanguard was one of eight Golden State Athletic Conference teams to finish the year ranked in the top-25. Tough the Lions did not play to their potential at Nationals, Booker and her squad ended the 2009 campaign as one of the best teams in the country, and boasted one of the finest seasons in program history. Booker coached two All-GSAC performers (Heather DeJongh and Kelsey Wirt), two NAIA scholar-athletes (Wirt and Meghan Walsh), and one first-team NAIA All-American (DeJongh).
Despite getting the job late in the recruiting process, Booker led the Lions to an excellent season in 2009, finishing with an 18-12 overall record, including a 10-10 record in the GSAC. Her full knowledge of recruiting and her returning classes led to a smooth transition for the entire program, and a season of great success. To achieve a record of .500 in the GSAC is not an easy task, particularly in transition to a new coach. However, Booker did an outstanding job getting the most out of her team's talent, and the Lions finished the season ranked seventeenth in the country. At Nationals, the VU volleyball program proved it belonged in the NAIA's elite, as Booker led them to a ninth-place finish overall.
Booker started her coaching career not long after graduating from Newport Harbor High School. Working with junior high, high school and club levels, Booker has coached both boys and girls teams, including the boy's freshman and varsity teams at her alma mater. As an assistant at VUSC, Booker coordinated recruiting efforts and specialized in training the Vanguard setters to run the Lion offense.
Booker's playing career also helped prepare her for her first collegiate head coaching position. Competing at a championship level with Orange County Club Volleyball, Newport Harbor High School, and Golden West junior college, Booker proceeded on to an extremely successful three-year playing career at Vanguard. Helping the Lions earn a 62-37 record as a player, she was also a part of the Lion team which set a new program record for wins in a season and made the Region II postseason playoffs her final two years.
As a two-year team captain for the Lions, Marissa was a two-time All-GSAC setter and a sensational team leader. The offensive quarterback completed her collegiate playing career by leading the Lions to the Region II playoffs in 2005, and graduated from Vanguard at the end of the semester. Earning the 2005 Champions of Character award for Vanguard, the GSAC, and Region II, Booker has been a great example of the type of student-athlete the Lions are trying to produce and recruit.
"I am humbled to be the Head Volleyball Coach at my alma mater," commented Booker. "I feel so blessed to be able to work with a staff that is so supportive, talented, and diligent."
Following her graduation, Booker attained her California Teaching Credential while she broke into collegiate coaching as an assistant in the VU volleyball program. Booker earned her Master's in Education from Vanguard in the spring of 2010, and married Howard Booker this summer. The happy couple lives in Lake Forest.
