Nevada volleyball coach Shannon Wyckoff-McNeal resigns after two seasons with Wolf Pack

Nevada volleyball coach Shannon Wyckoff-McNeal resigned Thursday after two years on job, becoming the third Wolf Pack head coach to step down in the last 11 days.

Wyckoff-McNeal joins baseball coach Jake McKinley and women’s soccer coach Vanessa Valentine is resigning recently. McKinley did so to join the Seattle Mariners’ staff. Wyckoff-McNeal said she stepped down to focus on her family.

“After a lot of reflection and prayer, I have chosen to step away in order to put my family first,” Wyckoff-McNeal said in a news release. “It’s truly heart-wrenching to leave a place and a group of people I care for so deeply. Nevada will always hold a special place in my heart, and I’m grateful for every relationship, every experience and every moment spent here. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the University of Nevada, President (Brian) Sandoval and Stephanie Rempe for the incredible opportunity to be part of such a special place. My time here has meant more to me than I can express. This is a great university with a tremendous community, and being part of this program has been both inspiring and rewarding. Go Pack!”

Wyckoff-McNeal was hired Dec. 27, 2023 as Nevada volleyball’s 12th head coach, agreeing to a five-year pact that paid $155,000 annually with a $40,000 buyout if she left the school before Dec. 31, 2025. Hunt was hired by Nevada after a successful stint as an assistant coach at Washington State for more than a decade.

Nevada finished second-to-last in the MW in each of Wyckoff-McNeal’s two seasons with the Wolf Pack. In 2024, Nevada went 12-17 overall and 5-13 in the Mountain West. This season, the Wolf Pack was 8-20 overall and 4-14 in league play. Wyckoff-McNeal went 20-37 overall and 9-27 in the MW in two seasons. Her first year was marred by Nevada’s boycott of a match against San Jose State, which drew national headlines as the Wolf Pack players voted against taking the court versus the Spartans, whose team featured a a transgender player.

After making five NCAA Tournament berths from 1998-2005, Nevada volleyball has posted a winning record in just three of the last 20 seasons (2007, 2016 and 2019). It also has suffered from heavy transfers over the last decade, including three of the Wolf Pack’s top potential returners (Haylee Brown, Audrey Jensen and Kinsley Singleton) entering the portal earlier this week.

Nevada said it would conduct a national search for Wyckoff-McNeal’s replacement.

“I would like to thank Shannon for her dedication to the Nevada volleyball program and our student-athletes over the past two years,” Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe said in a news release. “I wish her all the best.”