ATHLETICS TEAMS :: VOLLEYBALL:: COACHING STAFF

Head Coach · Tom Justice
Details: Email: tjustice@lhup.edu; Phone: 570-484-2388

Tom Justice Head Coach 448-228 Career Same at LHU  Southern Illinois University '71 20th season

Tom Justice is Lock Haven University volleyball. Justice launched the volleyball program at LHU 19 seasons ago, and has built it into a dominant team in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and a perennial noise-maker at the national level.  He was recently inducted into the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in February 2006.

In 2009 Justice led the Lady Eagles to a 34-6 overall record and 17-2 in the PSAC.  They were the PSAC East Regular Season Champions, PSAC Tournament Runners-up and Atlantic Region Finalists.   Justice coached one All American, the Atlantic Region Freshman of the Year, three All Region Athletes, one first team and two second team Daktronics All-Atlantic Region Athletes and three All PSAC Athletes.  Tom Justice was also named PSAC East Coach of the Year.

In 2008 the Tom Justice led volleyball squad posted a very impressive 29-6 record and were the PSAC East Regular Season Champions, PSAC Finalists, and NCAA Division 2 Atlantic Region Semi-Finalists.  Justice coached one All American, five All Region Athletes, the PSAC East Player of the Year, PSAC East Freshman of the year, and four All PSAC Athletes.  Coach Justice was also named the PSAC East Coach of the Year.

In 2006 the Lady Eagles went 32-6 and 9-1 in the PSAC West.  They finished the season with their fourth consecutive Atlantic Region Championship as well as winning the PSAC Championship.

Since helping start the program 18 seasons ago, Justice has guided Lock Haven volleyball past the prestigious 400-win mark, with an impressive 444-228 record. The program’s success has been particularly evident over the past five years, as Justice has directed the Lady Eagles to a 138-42 mark and a record of 51-10 in the PSAC Western Division.

After struggling in the early years, the Lady Eagles hit their stride as a program in 1995 when they won their first PSAC Championship.  Since then they finished first in the PSAC regular season rankings in all but three years, and they have qualified for the NCAA playoffs every year except 2002 and 2007. 

The Haven volleyball team won PSAC championship tournament titles in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004 and won NCAA Atlantic Region championships in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009, advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on each of those occasions. Coach Justice has been named the PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year on three occasions, and has also merited two Atlantic Region Coach of the Year honors.

A native of Denver, Justice attended Colorado State University for two years before transferring to the University of Colorado in 1966 where he finished up his wrestling career in the Big 8. From there he moved to Southern Illinois University where he served as an assistant coach for four years, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1971 before obtaining his master's degree in 1972. He worked in the high school wrestling coaching ranks for several years, and was an assistant on four U.S. Junior World wrestling teams including three who won World Championships.  He arrived at Lock Haven in 1985 as an assistant coach with the Bald Eagle wrestling program, then changed gears and took over the head coaching reigns of the swimming and volleyball programs from 1991 through 1998, when he gave up the swimming to concentrate solely on volleyball. He has decades of coaching experience in wrestling, swimming and volleyball under his belt, and is also an NSCA and US Weightlifting certified strength coach, which has been a significant advantage in developing the strength and vertical leap ability of his teams.

He is married to the former Peggy Mitchell of Mt. Zion, Ill., also an SIU graduate.  The Justices have three children, Stephanie (31), Kimberly (29) and Thomas, Jr. (27).  Stephanie is a graduate of Colorado State and both Kim and Thomas are Lock Haven graduates.