Tennessee State’s all-time wins leader Kathy Bullock has built the volleyball program from the ground up to the upper echelon of the Ohio Valley Conference. Bullock enters her 13th season at TSU in 2016.
Since taking over the helm of the TSU volleyball program prior to the 2004 campaign, Bullock has led the Tigers to one OVC Regular Season Championship, one OVC Tournament Championship and the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Bullock, who has gone 160-206 at TSU, has posted the program’s six winningest seasons during her tenure.
In just her second season in Nashville in 2005, Bullock guided the Tigers to a school record 22 wins and a share of the OVC regular season title. The previous year in 2004, the squad finished with an overall record of 5-27. The 17-game turn around was the largest in 2005 for NCAA Division-I. The Tigers also set the school record for most wins in conference play, going 14-2 en route to their first regular season conference championship. The team’s accomplishments earned Bullock Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors.
The Tigers followed up with the team’s second 20-win season in 2006.
In 2007, Bullock took the program to new heights as the Tigers won the OVC Tournament Championship to earn a place in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Tigers ended the season with a 20-14 record, marking the team’s third-consecutive season with 20-plus victories.
Since winning the championship in 2007, Bullock has kept the Tigers near the top of the conference, qualifying for the OVC semifinals in 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Bullock, who posted a 146-161 record as the head coach of North Carolina A&T prior to taking over at TSU, collected her 300th career win in a match versus East Tennessee State in 2014.
Under her guidance, the Tiger volleyball program has had 18 All-OVC selections, seven All-Newcomer honorees and one OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, in 2011, Shaquita Williams was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year; marking the first time a Tennessee State player has received the honor. In 2016, Bullock helped Madison Halterman become TSU's first OVC Defensive Player of the Year.
Prior to TSU, Bullock spent 10 years as head coach at North Carolina A&T. In her first season, Bullock went 12-25 and 7-4 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in 1994. In her next season, Bullock coached the Lady Aggies to 15 wins and won the MEAC Southern Division with an 8-1 record. In 1996, Bullock led the Lady Aggies to a remarkable 17-15 record and a first place 6-0 finish in the conference. In 1998, Bullock led NC A&T to an overall 16-15 record while finishing 8-0 in the MEAC. From 1999-2001, Bullock’s Lady Aggies won 19, 20 and 22 games, extending their winning and school record each year.
In her final year at NC A&T, she led the Lady Aggies to a record of 18-15, with a lineup that had just one senior.
She completed her Lady Aggie career with a record of 146-161 in ten seasons. She has coached seven First-Team All- MEAC selections, and one MEAC Player of the Year, outside hitter Vania Blake in 1998.
As a student-athlete, Bullock was named to the volleyball All-MEAC First Team each of her four seasons and is the only player in conference history to achieve that honor. She was also an All-American track performer in the 800-meters during the 1984-85 season and is member of the Durham Striders Track Club Hall of fame.
A native of Durham, N.C., Bullock graduated from North Carolina A&T in 1987 with a degree in communications. She credits her family as a source of her achievements on and off the field. She is married to Darryl Bullock and has one daughter, Kayla, and one stepson, Luther.