Fresno City College will be looking for a new volleyball coach as Tracy Ainger-Schulte just signed on to coach the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific University. Ainger-Schulte a graduate of FPU in 1996 will be taking over the head coach position.

“In the last couple of weeks, it all came together,” said Ainger-Schulte. “Seemed like the right time, the right moment, and here we are.”

She has coached at FCC for nine years and says that college feels like home in many ways, but says she feels like the time to make changes is now. It wasn’t a hard decision, yet she realizes the pressure that goes along with the new job.

Ainger-Schulte turned FCC volleyball into a junior college powerhouse, winning conference titles each year and making a pair of state final four appearances. The Rams are 205-45 overall and 124-2 in Central Valley Conference matches.

She says she is familiar with the Sunbirds programs, having been the 1996 NAIA National Player of the year. She is also in the NAIA and the Fresno Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame. Her No.11 is the only jersey number to be retired in FPU sports history.

Ainger-Schulte gives all the credit to her former players and coaches who have supported her on this decision.

“The extra five years here at FCC gave me confidence for this,” she said.

Ainger-Schulte said her legacy at FCC is that she turned the program into a family environment and that the players she has coached have found success in life. she hopes she can transfer these successes to FPU.

“I’m happy to be back in that campus and the community.” said Ainger-Schulte. “The environment feels like home.”