Rachael Bailes is currently entering her second season as Head Coach of the Lady Trailblazer Volleyball Program. Hailing from Cleveland, OH, Bailes played collegiate volleyball at both the University of Charleston (2006) and Baldwin Wallace University (2005) before ending her career due to injuries to take up coaching.
In 2019, the Lady Trailblazers saw a year of growth and development, including five set comeback victories and forward movement within the River States Conference. Increasing their win total by five games in 2018, Ohio Christian fell just shy of a bid to the conference tournament, a goal that will be at the top of the list for 2020.
As a coach, Bailes has seen experience at both the high school and college levels. She began her career as a high school coach for eight seasons, compiling an overall record of 82-37, including conference runner up in two consecutive seasons.
Following her time at the high school level, Bailes received her first collegiate opportunity at Walsh University from 2015-19. While at Walsh, the Cavaliers made their first conference tournament in the GMAC, knocking out reigning GMAC tournament champion Cedarville University in the quarterfinals, and had its first nationally ranked top-10 win vs Rockhurst University.
In addition to her college coaching duties, Bailes also coaches club volleyball for Mintonette Sports, and previously at Eastside Cleveland Juniors and AVC.
Rachael’s twin sister, Heather Bailes, is also a member of the Lady Trailblazer staff, serving as assistant coach. Rachael’s parents, Craig and Pat Bailes, along with younger sister Brittany Bailes, still reside in Cleveland, OH.
