West Texas A&M University Athletics

Jason Skoch recently concluded his ninth season at West Texas A&M in 2017. Skoch has continued the storied tradition of Lady Buff Volleyball with seven appearances in the NCAA Division II Postseason with four South Central Regional Championships.

The Lady Buffs returned to the NCAA Postseason as the seventh seed in the South Central Regional Championship in 2017, WT then went on a run as they picked up wins over then #12 Tarleton State and Metro State to make the program's 16th Regional Championship match before falling to #9 Regis in four-sets. WT finished the 2017 season with an overall record of 23-14 as they went 12-8 in Lone Star Conference play.

The 2014 campaign was another dominating run thru the Lone Star Conference for the Lady Buffs as they went a perfect 16-0 in league play to claim their 19th LSC Championship while registering a perfect league record for the 16th time since the 1986 season. The Lady Buffs participated in their 10th straight and 25th overall apearance in the NCAA Postseason as they made an appearance in the South Central Regional Semifinals before dropping a five-set thriller to host Colorado Mesa in Grand Juntion to finish the season with an overall record of 32-5. Skoch was named the LSC Coach of the Year for the second straight season and his fourth overall award since joining the league prior to the 2009 season.

2013 saw the Lady Buffs continue their dominance of the Lone Star Conference as the team went a perfect 16-0 in league play to claim the program’s 18th LSC Title. WT hosted the South Central Regional Tournament at “The Box” as they claimed the program’s 13th Regional Title, the Lady Buffs advanced to the National Semifinal match before falling to BYU-Hawaii in a five-set thriller. Skoch was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) South Central Region Coach of the Year as well as the LSC Coach of the Year for his efforts.

The 2012 season saw the Lady Buffs claim the LSC Tournament Title after a thrilling five set win over Angelo State in San Angelo, Texas followed by WT taking the South Central Regional Championship to make the program’s 12th appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight held in Pensacola, Florida. WT finished the season with an overall record of 33-5.

In 2011, the Lady Buffs went 34-3 including a 19-1 mark in the LSC for their sixth consecutive and 17th overall LSC Championship. WT made its seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA postseason, Skoch picked up his second consecutive LSC Coach of the Year honor. The Lady Buffs put their mark in the NCAA Record Books in 2011, recording the longest conference win streak in Division II history of 87 matches from Sept. 8, 2006 – Sept. 17, 2011.

In 2010, the Lady Buffs finished the season with a 27-9 overall record and a flawless 14-0 mark in the LSC. The team won its fifth consecutive LSC Championship and 16th overall. WT reached the NCAA Postseason for a sixth consecutive season before Emporia State in the opening round of the South Central Regional Tournament. Skoch was named the LSC Coach of the Year.

In his first season with the team in 2009, Skoch (rhymes with ‘coach’) led the ultra-successful Lady Buffs to fourth-consecutive and 15th all-time Lone Star Conference title, 20th NCAA Regional tournament appearance and 11th NCAA Regional title, and 11th NCAA Elite Eight appearance. The team experienced their fourth National Championship match appearance in Lady Buff history and finished second behind three-time national champions, Concordia-St. Paul, finishing the season with a 39-4 record.

Skoch currently boasts an incredible career win-loss record of 393-95 (.805) in his 13 years as a head coach, including a 257-75 (.774) mark in his nine seasons at the helm of the Lady Buffs. Before coming to Canyon, Skoch served as head coach at Truman State as he guided the Bulldogs to four-consecutive top-10 rankings in the AVCA final poll.

While at Truman State, he compiled a 137-22 record (.861), made five consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, developed 11 All-America student-athletes as well as two MIAA Most Valuable Players. The Bulldogs were MIAA regular-season and tournament champions in both 2006 and 2007, and spent a portion of the 2005 campaign ranked number-one in the national polls. Additionally, the Bulldogs have been ranked in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll every week during his tenure as head coach. While still at Truman, Skoch recruited the 2009 AVCA National Freshman of the Year, Megan Sharpe.

In 2007, Skoch’s squad set season records in kills, hitting attempts, assists, digs and blocks en route to a 36-6 overall record, an MIAA tournament title, a No. 1 seed in the South Central Regional, and a trip to the National Sweet 16. The 36 wins were the second-most in program history, as the team won the MIAA East division for the second-straight season.

Truman went 13-4 in 2007 against teams ranked in the top-25, including a 6-3 mark against teams in the top-10 at the time of the match. The Bulldogs went 5-3 in matches that went five-games and were swept just once - at the hands of eventual national champion Concordia-St. Paul in the first weekend of the season.

Skoch has demonstrated success from the outset of his Truman tenure, as in his first season at the helm, Truman finished second in MIAA play and won the MIAA postseason tournament. After opening the season ranked second in the preseason national poll, the squad jumped up to No. 1 one week later for the first time in school history. They held the top spot for six weeks in 2005.

He capped off his first season at the institution with a South Central regional title before falling in the Elite Eight against host and national-No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney.

The Bulldogs rolled through the MIAA in 2006, going undefeated and once again capturing the MIAA tournament championship. The season was culminated with Skoch being named MIAA Coach of the Year. The squad spent five more weeks atop the national poll late in the season, and, after being recognized as the MIAA Coach of the Year for the first time, Skoch’s squad was again selected to host the South Central Regional.

Skoch came to Truman after spending one season as an assistant coach at Mississippi State University. He was part of a first-year coaching staff which led Mississippi State to an improvement of 11 wins overall and tied a school record for the most wins in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play.

Skoch also had previous NCAA Division II experience as he was an assistant coach at Central Oklahoma in 2003. Other coaching experience for Skoch includes spending one season as head coach with the Stillwater Volleyball Club and the Kaeppa Oklahoma Charge Volleyball Club. He is a former player with club teams at Penn State University, the University of Memphis and Oklahoma State University.

Skoch earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State in 1998, with a major in statistics and a minor in mathematics. He earned a Master of Science in Statistics from Penn State in 2001.

Skoch and his wife, Karen, reside in Canyon with their children: Jay, Kyle, Kade and Emmie.