Ryan Meek finished his seventh season as the head coach of the High Point University volleyball team in 2024 after being announced as the 12th head coach in program history by HPU Athletic Director Dan Hauser on Jan. 29, 2018.
In 2024, Meek guided the Panthers to their second straight Big South Regular Season and Tournament Title to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The team finished the season with a 23-7 overall record and a 13-1 league record. Meek was voted the Big South Coach of the year for the second straight season and was joined by six players who also earned post season awards. Among the post season honorees, Dylan Maberry was named the Big South Player of the Year, Jordyn Schilling the Big South Libero of the Year and Arica Davis as the Big South Newcomer of the Year. Maberry capped her career at High Point being named to the AVCA Honorable Mention All-America and the AVCA All-South Region Honorable Mention for the third time in her career. She became HPU's All-Time kills leader with 1,606 kills and the All-Time service aces leader with 100 career aces.
Following coach Meek’s sixth season with the Panthers, he guided the program to an overall record of 23-8, earning the program's third Big South regular season title and second Big South Championship since taking over in 2018. After going 14-0 during the conference regular season, HPU defeated Winthrop 3-2 in the Big South Championship to earn an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament for the second time under coach Meek’s wing. Meek was named the Big South Coach of the Year while seven players earned All-Conference awards. Dylan Maberry was named the Player of the Year, Allie Gray the Setter of the Year, Christine Graf the Newcomer of the Year and Eve Wilson the Freshman of the Year. Baylea Sparks and Jordyn Schilling were named to the first and second team All-Conference teams respectively and Evy Eckensberger was named to the All-Academic team. Dylan Maberry was also named to the AVCA All-Region and All-America Honorable Mention teams, becoming the first player in HPU and Big South history to be selected twice in their career as an All-American.
During the 2022 season, four Panthers were named to the Big South Preseason All-Conference team, including Dylan Maberry, Gabrielle Idlebird, Maria Miggins and Sydney Palazzolo. Nine players were selected as the Big South Players of the Week, with Jenny Wessling
earning Libero of the Week twice, Palazzolo earning Player of the Week three times, and Maberry earning Player of the Week on two occasions. Three Panthers were named to the All-Tournament team, including Maberry, Sopheea Mink
and Palazzolo as the tournament MVP. Following the season, Palazzolo was also named to the AVCA All-American and All-Southeast Region Honorable Mention.
In his fourth season at the helm, HPU had seven players earn conference recognition as Dylan Maberry, Maria Miggins, Mackenzi Thornburg, Gabrielle Idlebird, and Jenny Wessling were named First Team All-Conference while Sydney Palazzolo was a Second Team honoree. Wessling, Palazzolo, and Jackie Joyce were also named to the All-Freshman Team. Maberry capped off a successful first season with the Panthers as the Big South Player of the Year, as well as an AVCA All-American and All-Southeast Region Honorable Mention. Miggins and Thornburg were the conference's Co-Setters of the Year, Wessling earned Defensive Player of the Year recognition and Palazzolo was named the Freshman of the Year.
After the cancellation of the fall 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the spring 2021 season featured a perfect 16-0 conference record for the Panthers while notching a 17-1 record overall, the lone HPU loss to No. 7 Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During the historic run, Meek led the Purple and White to their fifth NCAA Tournament berth and first NCAA Tournament victory, a 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11) over UCF in the first round. Abby Bottomley was named a Fourth Team All-American by volleyballmag.com, an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, and a CoSIDA Second Team All-American. She was also named the Big South Co-Woman of the Year and the conference's Player of the Year while garnering first team honors. Bottomley and Kaley Rammelsberg earned AVCA Southeast All-Region honors, Bottomley with first team honors while Rammelsberg was honorable mention. Six Panthers earned All-Big South honors as Bottomley, Rammelsberg, Annie Sullivan, and Madison Smith were recognized on the first team, Gabrielle Idlebird on the second team, and Maria Miggins and Mackenzi Thornburg as honorable mention. Meek, along with assistants Jill Sikes and Kevin Berger, was recognized as the conference's Coaching Staff of the Year.
Meek's second season at the helm of the Panthers saw the Purple and White go 21-13 with a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Conference, which High Point advanced to the second round in with HPU's first postseason victory in program history. Abby Bottomley and Kaley Rammelsberg were named to the First and Second All-Big South Teams, respectively, while Megan Kratzer and Annie Sullivan were tabbed as honorable mentions. Rammelsberg, Kratzer, and Sullivan were all named the the All-Freshman Team, the first time in program history that HPU has had three selections to the All-Freshman Team, and Rammelsberg was named the conference's Freshman of the Year while Bottomley picked up Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors after being named the Defensive Player of the Week six times during the 2019 season.
In his first season, Meek led the Panthers to a 21-10 record and a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. High Point took the Big South Regular Season Championship with 14-2 conference mark and the Big South Tournament Championship in Meek's first year. Under his tutelage, Molly Livingston was the first HPU player to be named Big South Player of the Year.
Meek came to the Triad after two seasons at Creighton University where he served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under three-time National Coach of the Year Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Meek is High Point’s fifth head coach since the program moved to the Division I level beginning in 1999-2000.
| Seasons at HPU |
Overall Record |
Big South Record |
| 2018 |
21-10 |
14-2 |
| 2019 |
21-13 |
12-2 |
| 2020 |
17-1 |
16-0 |
| 2020-21 (spring Covid-19) |
24-7* |
15-1* |
| 2022 |
23-10* |
14-2* |
| 2023 |
23-8 |
14-0 |
| 2024 |
23-7 |
13-1 |
| Total: |
105-55 |
69-8 |
*the wins from the 2021 and 2022 seasons were vacated in 2025 following NCAA infractions committed
During Meek’s tenure in Omaha, the Bluejays went 55-14 including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2016 – his first season with the program. The team dominated the Big East winning 34 of 36 matches and claiming both the regular season and tournament titles each of the past two seasons.
His first season with Creighton resulted in the program’s first trip to the Elite Eight when the squad became the first in NCAA Tournament history to win three straight five-set matches to qualify for the regional final.
In the midst of the Bluejays deepest NCAA Tournament run the squad took down No. 4 Kansas, which is the highest-ranked foe Creighton has ever defeated. Along with the team success, Meek guided Lydia Dimke to become the Big East Player of the Year and All-America Third Team honors. Under Meek’s tutelage, Dimke finished the 2016 campaign second in the nation in assists.
Meek arrived at Creighton after spending five seasons as head coach at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., where he helped the Warriors to a 110-64 record.
The Warriors went 29-9 overall in 2015 as Meek was named the National Coach of the Year at the Division III level by the AVCA, after helping Hendrix to the national semifinals. He also earned Southern Athletic Association Coach of the Year honors for the second year in a row after winning back-to-back regular season and conference tournament titles. His 2015 squad finished with a No. 8 ranking in the AVCA Top 25 Division III poll. Hendrix finished second in the nation in attacks, third in digs, fifth in assists, sixth in kills and 12th in total blocks.
In 2014, the Warriors set a program record with a 31-6 record and won their first SAA regular season and tournament titles. Meek’s squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the season with 43 votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll. He earned SAA Coach of the Year honors for his efforts. The 2014 Hendrix team finished 10th in the nation in kills, 14th in hitting percentage, 16th in blocks and 17th in assists per set.
In 2013, Meek guided the Warriors to their first winning season with a 20-12 record. Hendrix also finished tied for third place in the league and advanced to the SAA Conference Tournament finals.
In his time at Hendrix, Meek coached one AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, two SAA Newcomers of the Year, nine First Team all-conference selections, six Second Teamers and four Honorable Mention women.
Prior to joining the Warrior staff, Meek spent two seasons at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. He was the top assistant for the Lions and was named interim head coach in February 2011. While at MSSU, Meek helped the Lions to their first regional ranking since 2006 and he coached four All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association players.
Meek served as a volunteer assistant for the University of Arkansas from January 2007-July 2008 where he coached one All-Southeastern Conference selection and an All-SEC Freshman Team performer.
From 2004-06, Meek was the head girls varsity coach and assistant boys coach for Simi Valley High School in California. He led the SVHS girls to three consecutive top five regional rankings and the state playoffs for the first time in school history. The boy’s squad received a national ranking and Meek coached 10 future collegiate players.
Meek was the starting setter for Quincy University in 2003, where he led the Hawks in assists and finished third in the league in assists per set. In 2002, Meek led Moorpark College and the state of California in assists, setting Moorpark’s single-season assists record.
Meek was a three-year letterman at opposite and outside hitter at Simi Valley High School. He led the team in kills and digs for two seasons and helped SVHS to a top 10 national ranking as a senior in 2000.
He earned his B.A. in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas in 2008 and comes to High Point with his wife, Heather.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
We are very excited to announce Ryan Meek as our new volleyball coach at High Point University. Ryan brings championship head coach experience as an AVCA National Coach of the Year recipient, as well as an outstanding national recruiting and player development track record. I have full confidence in his ability to continue building on the conference and NCAA Tournament success at High Point University. This is a very exciting day for HPU Volleyball.
- Dan Hauser, High Point University Athletic Director
We’re thrilled for Ryan and we’re thrilled for High Point. Ryan is someone that’s going to work his tail off to be great and I know he’s really excited about all that High Point has to offer. I have no doubt he’s going to continue to move what is already a very successful program to new heights.
– Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Head Coach, Creighton University
Ryan has an incredible mind for the game of volleyball and sees the game in ways that puts his players in a position to be successful. Athletes who are competitive and want to strive for greatness thrive under his coaching. He will build on the success that High Point has established. The Panthers and the Big South just got better.
– Chris Willis, Head Coach, Davidson College
