The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Volleyball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach/recruiting coordinator, 1st year
Email Coach Rockwell with any recruiting inquiries
The 2012 season marks Salima Rockwell's fourth on Jerritt Elliott's staff at Texas after joining the Longhorn family in January 2009. One of the nation's premier assistant coaches, Rockwell came to Austin after spending three seasons on the Penn State coaching staff.
Rockwell works with the team's setters and off the court, she serves as the Longhorns' recruiting coordinator.
She helped build the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation with the 2012 group that included three Top 10 recruits: Molly McCage, Nicole Dalton and Sara Hattis.
During her second season on the Forty Acres, Rockwell's tutelage helped the Horns return to the NCAA Semifinals for the third straight year. She managed the 2010 setter stable of Hannah Allison and Michelle Kocher through injuries and a variety of lineups as they set UT to a .306 team hitting percentage that stood as the fourth-best in the NCAA.
In her first season at Texas, Rockwell helped guide UT to the NCAA Championship match for the first time since 1995, while helping the Horns to their third-straight Big 12 Championship. In 2009, she was charged with transitioning All-America opposite hitter Ashley Engle to the setter position and working with returner Kocher to bolster the Longhorns' offense. In her inaugural season, Rockwell's setters paced Texas to a .338 team hitting percentage, which ranked second nationally.
Rockwell spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons at Penn State as an assistant coach and helped the Nittany Lions to back-to-back NCAA titles. She also served as director of volleyball operations in 2006. Rockwell's primary duties included working with the setters and the offense, recruiting and match preparation.
Under the guidance of Rockwell, setter Alisha Glass directed the 2007 and 2008 Penn State offenses to nation-leading hitting percentages of .350 (2007) and .390 (2008). In Glass' three-year career, the Penn State offense hit at an astounding .352 hitting percentage.
Rockwell returned to Penn State after spending the 2005 season as an assistant coach at Oregon State under legendary head coach Terry Liskevych.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Rockwell was an assistant at the University of Pittsburgh from 2001-03 where she worked primarily with the Panthers' setters. She also was the Panthers' lead recruiter and signed four of their top five recruits in 2002.
Rockwell captained the USA National Team in 1997 and 1998 and served as the starting setter for the Americans. She earned the Coaches' Award, MVP and the Team Award in both seasons.
Rockwell also spent three years in the ultra-competitive world of pharmaceutical sales, consistently ranking as a top-selling representative.
The former Salima Davidson was a three-time All-America setter for the Nittany Lions from 1991-94. She served as a two-time team captain of the U.S. National Team during her time with the squad from 1995-99 and was selected as an alternate for the 1996 Olympics Team.
She still ranks fourth all-time on Penn State's career assists list with 5,455, and sits fourth on the career assists per game list (12.34). She ranks sixth on the career digs charts with 1,278 and sits 15th all-time on the career hitting percentage list (.301). An all-around player, Rockwell also ranks 11th on the career total blocks chart with 382 and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame.
A two-time member of the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team (1993 & 1994), Rockwell also earned All-Big Ten accolades four times, including three First-Team selections. She graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in speech communications.
Rockwell and her husband, Jeff, have two sons, Logan (7) and Rylan (3).
