PENSACOLA, Fla. – UWF women's volleyball coach Melissa Wolter has announced the addition of Julianne Wilkes as the program's assistant coach.
 
Wilkes comes to UWF after spending the past two seasons at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama.
 
The Eagles went 23-14 in 2022 and saw five players earn All-Southern States Athletic Conference honors and six receive all-academic. In 2021, Faulkner won 13 matches as she mentored Alyssa Stagner and Julia Rice to AVCA All-District honors and First Team All-SSAC mention.
 
"I couldn't be more excited to have Julianne join our staff" Wolter said. "I first met Julianne working camps and absolutely loved working with her. She has a commanding court presence, an incredible knowledge of the game, is an excellent recruiter and fits our culture perfectly. 
 
"She knows how to challenge athletes and cares about them on and off the court. I am thrilled to see how she can advance our ball control and defensive aspects of the game. I feel truly blessed to have Julianne on board!"
 
"I am beyond thankful for (Athletics Director) Dave Scott and (Senior Associate Athletics Director) Meghan Barter giving me the opportunity to be a part of this great university," Wilkes said. "The legacy that they have built is something I am extremely proud to embrace and cultivate. I am looking forward to the honor of working with Melissa Wolter and her incredible team.
 
"I have great admiration for her and her decorated resume, but who she is as a person is most impressive to me.  I am excited to wear green and blue and help build champions for life."
 
Wilkes' first job out of college in 2020 as an assistant coach for the Trinity Presbyterian School varsity volleyball team and head coach of the middle school squad. The varsity team won the 3A state championship and the middle schoolers finished the season as runner-up in the Capital City Conference.
 
She also coached on the club level for the Capital City Juniors. In 2020-21, Wilkes was the head coach of the CCJ 16-1 team and an assistant for the 14-1 team that made a nationals appearance in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the summer of 2022, she led the CCJ 16/17 AAU team to nationals in Orlando, Florida, where they won the 17 Aspire National Championship with a 13-0 record.  

A dual-sport athlete during her college career at Faulkner from 2016-20, Wilkes earned four letters in volleyball and softball. On top of making the All-Academic list twice for volleyball and three times for softball, she truly made her mark as the Lady Eagles' libero. She was a 4-time First Team All-SSAC defender and voted to the All-Freshman team in 2016 and to the All-Tournament team in both 2017 and 2018. 

Her most successful campaign came in 2018, when she helped lead Faulkner to the first berth in the national tournament in the program's history. She was named SSAC Libero of the Year and an All-American Honorable Mention for her efforts that season. Wilkes finished tenth in the nation in total digs with 782 and received 97.1 percent of serves hit to her. For her career, she compiled 2615 digs, 369 assists, 144 kills and 98 aces in 494 career sets. 

Wilkes was a standout prep performer at New Life Christian Academy in Deatsville, Alabama. She was a 6-year varsity letter in volleyball, basketball and softball. She won numerous MVP awards and First Team All-Conference in each sport and was a nominee for Elmore County's Joe Sewell Award in 2012 and 2016. She was on 1st teams in CCJ for eight straight years from age 11-18.