Queen’s Athletics & Recreation announced today that Shanice Marcelle has been named the 15th head coach of the Queen’s Women’s Volleyball program.
Marcelle will assume the role of head coach after spending the past six seasons as an assistant coach for the York Lions, including recently serving as Interim Head Coach for the Lions program.
“I am thrilled to have Shanice join Queen’s Athletics & Recreation as our new Women’s Volleyball Head Coach,” said Linda Melnick, Executive Director, Queen’s Athletics & Recreation. “Her commitment to developing and supporting student-athletes is coupled with a wealth of personal experience competing at the highest levels of the sport. We are very excited to have Shanice come to Queen’s and help shape the next chapter of our Women’s Volleyball program.”
Prior to joining York as an assistant coach, Marcelle had a decorated volleyball career at both the professional and amateur levels.
Marcelle joined Canada’s national youth volleyball team in 2006 and competed in the NORCECA Youth Championship held in Gainesville, Florida. She then began her international beach volleyball career, representing Canada at both the 2007 World Youth Championships and the 2010 World Junior Championships.
At the university level, Marcelle competed for the UBC Thunderbirds as an Outside Hitter and captured five consecutive CIS National Championships from 2009-13, earning tournament MVP honours in 2011 and earning recognition as a championship all-star at all five tournaments.
During that time, she was recognized as the Thunderbird Rookie of the Year in 2009, a First Team All-Canadian in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and won the Mary Lyons Award as the CIS Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year in 2011 and 2013, becoming the eighth player in the history of the award to earn the recognition twice. She won the BLG Award in 2013 as the top female athlete in the CIS to conclude her university career, becoming the fourth UBC student-athlete to earn the recognition.
Professionally, Marcelle competed with Dresdner SC in Germany from 2013 to 2015 and won a pair of Bundesliga championships, earning championship MVP honours in 2015, before playing a season in France for VB Nantes.
Marcelle competed at the national and international level for Canada across a number of different competitions during her career, both in indoor and beach volleyball, including the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, as well as the 2011 and 2013 FISU Games, in addition to multiple NORCECA and FIVB championships.
“I’m incredibly humbled and honoured to be named head coach of the Queen’s women’s volleyball program,” said Marcelle. “I want to thank Linda and Dalton for their belief and entrusting me with the legacy of success that was built by Ryan Ratushniak and the coaches before him. I am extremely eager to help these student-athletes achieve the greatness they are already capable of and build excellence for years to come.”
In addition to her coaching role at York, Marcelle was selected as a recipient of the 2021-22 U SPORTS Female Apprenticeship Coach Program, which pairs apprentice coaches with a head coach in one of the 11 U SPORTS-sanctioned women’s sports. In 2022, she joined the coaching staff of Volleyball Canada’s Youth National Team, which competed domestically in the Canada Cup.
Marcelle will begin her new position on August 26.