Yajaira Cadet - Volleyball Coach

Yajaira Cadet

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
Yajaira_Cadet@baylor.edu
Phone:
4393

Yajaira (Ja-hi-duh) Cadet came to the Bears in early January of 2022 after serving as the head coach of club team Excel Volleyball for seven years, coaching teams from 10U to 17U. She was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator for the Bears through the 2023 season.

Cadet helped coach the Bears to their eighth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament in her second season in Waco. Baylor had three AVCA All-Region honors coupled with four All-Big 12 honorees for the season, along with three being named Academic All-District. Cadet saw her student-athletes break multiple personal records on the season, and three Bears enter the record book for single-match attack percentage and career assists. Baylor won out in Colorado State’s Ram Volleyball Classic, notched a win over No. 19 Ohio State, and carved out season sweeps against Cincinnati and UCF while splitting series with Iowa State and Kansas State.

Baylor's 2022 season was the fourth-straight NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and seventh season in a row both making the NCAA Tournament and tallying 20 or more wins for the Bears, all under head coach Ryan McGuyre. BU finished with a 25-7 overall, 12-4 Big 12 and 16-1 home record that included 13 sweeps of its opponents, ranked wins and a program-best attack percentage in a match. Baylor registered season sweeps of Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and West Virginia. Senior middle blocker Kara McGhee earned Honorable Mention AVCA All-American honors while freshman setter Averi Carlson was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and AVCA Southwest Region Freshman of the Year while collecting the most weekly Big 12 accolades by a Baylor freshman with five. The Bears saw players earn major milestones with McGhee having tallied her 500th career block while fellow senior Lauren Harrison had her 1,000th career kill. Overall, the Bears had nine weekly Big 12 accolades, four AVCA All-Southwest Region players, six earn All-Big 12 honors and had 10 accolades overall from non-conference tournaments. Baylor was ranked in every iteration of the AVCA Coaches Polls, never dipping outside of the top-18 teams, and finished the season ranked 15th as only one of two Big 12 teams on the poll. BU also finished 14th in the final NCAA RPI.

“It is with incredible excitement, enthusiasm and rejoicing that we are able to announce Yajaira Cadet as our assistant coach,” said McGuyre. “I feel incredibly blessed that God has called such a passionate and skilled teacher to our program. As an athlete, Yajaira led the SEC in digs and was a two-time national champion.

“As a teacher/coach, Yajaira is skilled in instruction, communication and motivation. She recognizes and implements timeless principles into her life and others daily. I am confident she will be an immaculate servant and mentor to our student-athletes, both as competitors and women of character. Her strengths flourish on and off the court. Yajaira will add to an already servant-hearted staff and strengthen our ability to Prepare Champions for Life.”

In addition to her club volleyball coaching, she also was a private coach while serving as a bilingual instructional specialist and principal intern at Memorial Elementary in the Plano school district for the past four years. She has served as a bilingual educator and coach for a total of 12 years.

Prior to being with the Excel club, she was a volleyball graduate assistant at the University of Evansville in Indiana from 2007 to 2009. Cadet earned her master’s degree in public service administration in 2009 from the university while assisting the Aces with training the primary passers and outside hitters.

During her time there, Evansville’s passing statistics improved, and she coached the Missouri Valley Conference Libero of the Year, Julie Walroth. At the time, Walroth was one of only 25 players in NCAA history to have 2,000 digs in her career.

“I coach because I have a passion for teaching the sport of volleyball to the future generations of players,” Cadet said previously. “I coach to serve and share the gift of volleyball. My coaching is focused on developing the mechanics of the sport, a competitive mindset and decision-making of the game.”

Cadet had a storied playing career. She started out on the Dominican Republic indoor and beach volleyball national teams, competing in several international tournaments, including Olympic qualifiers and earned a silver medal in the North, Central and Caribbean Tournament (NORCECA). She played for the junior and major national teams between 1994 and 2000.

Starting her collegiate career at the University of South Carolina in 2001, Cadet led the SEC in digs as a sophomore in 2002. Transferring to California Baptist, she served as team captain and helped the Lancers to back-to-back NAIA national championships in 2004 and 2005 under McGuyre. Cadet played outside and right-side hitter, as well as libero, in her career.

In 2004, she was named AVCA All-America first team and also received Golden State Athletic Conference All-Conference and Academic All-Conference honors.

Cadet became a member of the CBU and city of Riverside Sport Hall of Fame after her senior campaign with the Lancers, graduating with her bachelor’s in psychology and Christian studies in 2006. At the time of her induction, she was third all-time in single-season records with 616 kills, fourth with 4.57 kills per match and fifth with 536 digs.

She played six years of professional volleyball, winning five national titles in the Dominican beach volleyball league and was team captain of Bameso that won the U.S. Volleyball Open in 2005.

Born in Montecristi, Dominican Republic, Cadet and her husband, Abraham, have three children – Isaac, Abigail and Abraham Jr.