There is still a tone of disbelief, a sense of awe and wonder Nicky Cannon carries with her every day she walks into her Cal State Fullerton office. The one identifying her as the Titans’ head volleyball coach.
Nicky Cannon. Head Volleyball Coach.
Imposter syndrome is a tough opponent. Even when you’ve put together the resume that — on its face — should vanquish that opponent with the same ruthless ferocity Cannon displayed just getting here.
Before she turned 31, nothing in Cannon’s background indicated she’d become the ninth volleyball coach in CSUF’s program history when she was hired in February. And volleyball? Where did that come from?
That’s a story. And Cannon still asks herself sometimes where it came from.
Not from her standout softball career at Highland High in Palmdale, where she, her twin sister Natalie and older sister Melissa were presences on Antelope Valley softball diamonds throughout the 1990s.
Not from her college softball career at Colgate University, where she was a political science major who wanted to move to Washington, D.C. to “work in politics and change the world.” She’d get her wish, moving to D.C., working for a lobbyist on K Street, and eventually for nonprofits.
That’s when the timeless saying about being careful for what you wish for kicked in and a desire to get back into athletics somewhere, somehow took over.
“It came to a point where I realized I’m not built for this life. It’s not for me,” she said. “I felt like I was meant to do something more than this. I wasn’t making the impact I felt I needed to make. I was watching ‘The Biggest Loser’ and seeing how Gillian Michaels made a difference. That seemed like so much fun.”
Cannon moved to Hollywood and became a personal trainer, picking up several celebrities along the way. But training celebrities who used her more “like I was Dr. Phil” stopped being fun. Training athletes who wanted improvement without psychoanalysis gave Cannon the purpose she needed.
But volleyball? Again, volleyball? How did Cannon become first a CSUF assistant coach under former coach Ashley Preston and then the head coach at UC Riverside for three years? How did she take the UCR program from doormat to respectability in those three years, where in 2024, the Highlanders enjoyed their first 10-win season since 2017? Where did wins against perennial powers Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State come from?
After Cannon got married, they moved to Texas for her husband’s job. Back at loose ends, Cannon accepted an invitation from her twin sister to work as an assistant coach for Midwestern State. This led to the two starting a volleyball club in Wichita Falls. They started with eight teams and not enough coaches. And you can probably figure out where this was going.
“I was supposed to be the sports performance coach. I’m the queen of admin(istration), and I can train these kids. But we didn’t have enough coaches, and my sister said, ‘You’re going to coach volleyball.’ It had been a while since I picked up a volleyball,” she said. “We started off with private lessons and camps, then I took over the U-14, and we ended up doing really well, finishing the gold division.”
That led to a varsity coaching job at a nearby high school, which led to an athletic director job. Cannon was the self-described “queen of volleyball” when her husband’s career as a parole officer took him back to California.
“I didn’t know anyone there because I never did volleyball in California,” she said. “I had one daughter, and I was pregnant with another one. I didn’t know anyone from the volleyball community.”
That changed quickly when Cannon’s niece called a month after she moved back. The volleyball coach at Calvary Chapel in Downey quit during a tournament and the school needed a coach.
This eventually led to a random meeting at a tournament with the Cypress College coach. Cannon’s natural ebullience brought her a job offer on the spot, complete with signing the papers while she was going into labor.
Again, volleyball? Yes. And here’s the turning point, the moment where Cannon’s outgoing personality combined with her insatiable curiosity and that sense of fulfillment that, yes, she found her purpose.
“I’m a connector. I love talking to other coaches, getting mentored. I’m a student of the game because I didn’t play in college,” she said. “I was hungry for mentors and connections.”
She found a mentor in Preston, who coached the Titans from 2015 to 2020. Now the director of volleyball at the University of New Orleans, Preston hired Cannon in 2019 to oversee recruiting, outside hitters and defense. Cannon rewarded Preston’s faith by guiding Savahna Costello into the NCAA’s top 20 in digs per set (5.31) and overseeing a defense ranked nationally in digs per set (17.44).
“She was such a pivotal part of my growth as a coach,” Cannon said. “She knew the whole time I had imposter syndrome. No matter how great I was at recruiting, deep down, I’ve always felt like I didn’t belong because I didn’t play in college. She helped bring me out of that, telling me, ‘Everywhere you’ve been, you’ve won and your coach has gotten Coach of the Year.’
“She came into my life at the right time when I needed her, and she was the one who pushed me three years later to be a head coach at UCR. So it’s really full-circle in coming back.”
So what brought Cannon back to CSUF? Why did she return to a program that did not win a conference game last year to start all over again? When Cannon took over in February, she had seven players on the roster. After meetings and evaluations, she was left with two—senior setter Mya Tillman and senior middle blocker Ketesia Hall.
Cannon and assistants Kenny Ma and Aerielle Edwards went to work. By the end of spring break, they had eight players signed. By the middle of the summer, they had 18, split between nine freshmen and nine upperclassmen.
Early returns are promising. The Titans enter conference play a respectable 5-7. Cannon is about to put the finishing touches on that lingering foe — imposter syndrome. Her devotion to building relationships, sowing trust and finding players willing to grow — and take the positives from failure — applies the coup de gras.
She belongs at a place she called “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Sometimes you need a good mentor to push you out of your comfort zone. I got comfortable at UCR, and I know what we did there. Fullerton was a big question mark. Can I do it again, starting back at the bottom? What if it doesn’t work this time? You start to create all these question marks that make you doubt what you’re capable of.
“I needed a good kick in the butt. Stop playing scared and go for the job. You did it before, and you can do it again.”