William Smith Head Volleyball Coach Derryk Williams has hired Chelsea O'Leary to serve as assistant coach for the Herons during the 2025 season. O'Leary comes to campus after spending the last season as the 18's head coach for Yorktowne Volleyball Club.
In her first year with the William Smith volleyball program, she led the Herons to their most successful season in program history. O'Leary guided William Smith to its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship, where the Herons secured their first NCAA tournament win in program history as they rallied to defeat Lynchburg 3-2 in the first round. William Smith boasted a program-best 24-8 record with a 6-2 record in conference play, advancing to the Liberty League title match for the third consecutive season. The Herons went on to fall to No. 15 Ithaca in a five-set thriller in the championship match but secured an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season. William Smith also secured its first program win over a ranked opponent as it swept No. 22 Carnegie Mellon on the road. O'Leary helped mentor five All-Liberty League selections, four AVCA All-Region selections and three AVCA All-Americans. Additionally, William Smith produced seven Liberty League All-Academic selections as well as four CSC Academic All-District team members.
During her previous coaching experience, O'Leary was the 18's head coach and 17's assistant coach for Yorktowne Volleyball Club. She led and mentored athletes, focused on advanced skill development, strategic game management and fostering a competitive yet supportive team environment. O'Leary designed and implemented comprehensive training programs tailored to enhance individual skills and team dynamics which resulted in improved competitive performance.
Prior to her time with Yorktowne Volleyball Club, O'Leary spent two summers as the assistant director and coach for LVB Volleyball LLC, which hosted several Nike Volleyball Camps. In this position, she coached hundreds of youth volleyball players and planned camp structure, schedules and teams. O'Leary designed and presented drills both visually and verbally while supervising camps in their entirety. While with LVB Volleyball LVC, O'Leary was the book editor for the upcoming edition of "College Recruiting 101" written by Leah Bernier. For this project, she conducted comprehensive research to ensure accurate understanding and communication of NCAA rules and implemented editing and proofreading to enhance the clarity and professionalism of the manuscript.
O'Leary was a four-year member of the Gettysburg women's volleyball team. She appeared in 80 matches in her collegiate career, primarily playing libero for the Bullets. Through three seasons, O'Leary tallied 1,335 digs, 249 assists and 99 service aces. She averaged 4.65 digs per set, 0.87 assists per set and 0.34 aces per set for Gettysburg. O'Leary captained the Bullets for her final two seasons and guided Gettysburg to three-straight Centennial Conference Tournaments. She led the Bullets to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 18 years in her senior season.
The Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, native was a All-Centennial Conference second team selection in 2023, and a four-time Centennial Conference Athlete of the Week. O'Leary was the 22nd Bullet in program history to join the 1,000-dig club after recording 16 digs against the Herons on Sept. 16, 2023. A standout in the classroom, she was named a four-time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll selection as well as a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection.
O'Leary graduated summa cum laude from Gettysburg with a bachelor's degree in English and health sciences. She was named to the dean's list seven times, was a member of the Sigma Tau Delta international English honor society and the Chi Alpha Sigma national athlete honor society. O'Leary was also part of the Order of Omega Greek honor society from 2023-24.
