Jillian Williams (born March 5, 1997) is an American

sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability organized by World ParaVolley. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must sit on the floor to play. History Sitting volleyball was invented in t ...

player. She has competed at the World Para Volleyball Championships,

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

, and

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

, winning a medal in each of these events.

Early life and education

Williams was born to parents Trey and Janna Williams on March 5, 1997, in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

. She has an older brother named Trent. On February 29, 2016, Williams was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma in her left leg had the lower part of that leg amputated five months later. She graduated from

Texas Lutheran University Texas Lutheran University (TLU) is a private Evangelical Lutheran university in Seguin, Texas. History The university traces its roots back to 1891 with the foundation of an academy, named Evangelical Lutheran College, by the first German Eva ...

and later the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with almost 13,000 students and approximately 430 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founded in ...

Career

Williams competed at the

World Para Volleyball Championship World Para Volleyball Championship, was played first time at 1983 and organized by World ParaVolley. WOVD World Championships * 2022 Sitting Volleyball World Championships – Men's event * 2022 Sitting Volleyball World Championships – Women ...

and won a silver medal in 2018. She also represented the United States at the

2019 Parapan American Games The 2019 Parapan American Games (), officially the VI Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 ParaPan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan Am ...

and won a gold medal. Williams again represented the United States at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

and won a gold medal. She also competed at the Golden Nations League in 2021, as well as the Dutch Tournament in 2022, winning both of them.

Personal life

Williams married Kyle Coffee in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jillian 1997 births Living people American amputees American sitting volleyball players Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games Paralympic volleyball players for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Corpus Christi, Texas Women's sitting volleyball players Texas Lutheran University alumni University of Central Oklahoma alumni 21st-century American sportswomen Parapan American Games medalists in sitting volleyball Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States