MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University volleyball team and head coach Mike Lozier recently announced a new assistant coach.

Alexis “Pookie” Gonzalez comes to NMU after a year-long stint at California-Davis, where she was the Aggies’ volunteer assistant.

“I believe she has the right background to help this young team continue its growth, and I look forward to seeing the impact she has on this program,” Lozier said in a news release.

Prior to UC-Davis, Gonzalez played four years at Northern Illinois, serving as floor captain each year. At NIU, she only missed one game as a setter while finishing second in program history and 10th in Mid-American Conference history with 4,846 assists. A two-time All-MAC First Team honoree, she was also named MAC Setter of the Year after her senior season.

Also named to the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2012, she served as volleyball representative to the NIU Captains Council for three years and was a representative on the board of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2015-16.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2016, Gonzalez was head setting coach for Club Fusion Volleyball in Huntley, Illinois, and served as assistant varsity and head sophomore coach at DeKalb High School. She also completed a master’s degree in sport management in 2018.