Tessa McGill concluded her first season as the graduate assistant on the Arkansas State volleyball coaching staff in 2013 and was responsible for coaching the defensive specialists and libero. She was a member of a staff that led the Red Wolves to a 15-20 record and appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals. Under her leadership, Megan Baska registered the most digs of her career for a season with 623 and finished her career with the second most digs of all-time with 2,190. Additionally, A-State's defensive specialists and libero were responsible for 1,128 of the team's 1,843 digs on the season.
McGill came to Arkansas State after earning her bachelor’s degree in business management with a minor in communications from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. While at IPFW, she was a four-year letterman on the Mastodon volleyball team.
McGill was part of two NCAA Tournament teams at IPFW including her senior season in 2012. She earned a number of accolades during her final year including IPFW Senior Female Athlete of the Year, Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, All-Summit League Team, Summit League All-Tournament Team, American Volleyball Coaches Association D1 Honorable Mention Selection in the Central Region, and Summit League Defensive Player of the Week three times.
During her playing career, McGill registered 2,324 digs and averaged 4.77 digs per set, making her the Mastodons’ all-time career leader in both categories. She also owns records at IPFW for most digs in a three-set match with 28 and most digs in a five-set match with 47. In addition to her IPFW records, she ranked 19th in the nation with 5.44 digs per set in 2011, ranked sixth in the nation with 6.09 digs per set in 2012, and led the Summit League in digs for 2012. She is second all-time in Summit League Defensive Player of the Week awards with eight for her career.
