Danielle Essix enters her third season as the East Central University head volleyball coach in 2025.
The ECU Athletic Department announced the hiring of Essix as the fourth head volleyball coach in April of 2023.
In just her second year at the helm, Essix led the Tigers to a record-breaking season that echoed her own success as a former standout player— securing the No. 3 seed in the 2024 GAC Championship Tournament for the first time since her senior year in 2013. Under her leadership, the team posted a program-best 18-14 record, setting a new single-season wins record and advancing to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2013. The Tigers also saw individual success, with three players earning All-GAC honors: Odalys Gonzalez was named to the All-GAC First Team, Emma Strickland earned a spot on the Second Team, and Julia Kabala received Honorable Mention recognition. Academic achievements were also a highlight of the season, with several student-athletes recognized for excellence in the classroom, including Seran Eran, Mia Little, Ashleigh Miler, Emma Strickland, and Julia Kabala who were named to the GAC Academic Honor Roll.
In her inaugural season as head coach, Essix led ECU to an overall record of 14-15, just one victory shy of tying for most wins in school history. She returned to the Great American Conference Tournament 10 years after closing out her collegiate career as a Tiger in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 2013. ECU entered the 2023 GAC Championships as the No. 6 seed and saw two players earn All-GAC Honors. Odalys Gonzalez was named to the All-GAC Second Team while Emma Strickland landed on the All-GAC First Team and was recognized as a GAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete.
Essix came to the Tigers after spending five seasons as the head coach at Lee College, an NJCAA team in the Region XIV Athletic Conference in Baytown, Texas.
During her time with the Navigators, she guided the program to more than 70 wins and helped produce one Libero of the Year, three First Team All-Conference selections, four Second Team All-Conference selections, seven Honorable Mention All-Conference selections, and four Academic All-Americans.
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Prior to her tenure at Lee College, Essix was the assistant coach at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, for the 2016 and 2017 seasons before serving as interim head coach for five months. There, she assisted the team to a first-place finish during the 2017 conference season and a second-place finish in the Region XIV Conference Championships.
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Essix's first coaching position began at ECU, where she was a graduate assistant from 2014-15 under longtime head coach Dave Thorn, who started coaching the program in 2008.
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Before entering her coaching career, Essix was a stand-out on the court from 2010 to 2013, where she left her name on several ECU Career Top-10 lists, including No. 2 in kills and attacks, No. 3 in service aces, points, and double-doubles, No. 4 in matches played, and No. 6 in sets played.
In Essix's senior season in 2013, she earned Second Team All-GAC and landed a spot on the All-Tournament team at the GAC Championships.
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A native of Commerce, Texas, Essix received her degree in athletic training in 2014 and completed her master's degree in sports administration in 2015 from ECU.
Essix's Career Record:
Year     School              Record
2018      Lee College          10-13
2019      Lee College          20-13
2020      Lee College          21-19
2021      Lee College          22-16
2022      Lee College          14-15
2023      East Central      14-15
2024      East Central          18-14
Totals:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 105-105
