University of Missouri Athletics

Cullen Irons joined the University of Missouri volleyball staff in January 2023 as Technical Coordinator. With the addition of Jhenna Gabriel as Technical Coordinator, he was shifted to assistant coach. 

In 2024, he helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA Sweet 16 with a 22-9 overall record. MU earned the seventh seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished the campaign ranked in the top-25.

Mizzou registered 20-plus overall wins and 10-plus SEC wins in a season for the first time since 2019. MU finished tied for third in the SEC this season with an 11-5 mark after being selected to finish sixth in the preseason poll.

The Tigers also surpassed their SEC (9) and overall win (18) totals from 2023, when Sullivan was named SEC Coach of the Year in her first season in Columbia.

Mizzou picked up a five-set win over No. 9 Texas Nov. 1 in Austin, Texas. The Tigers also downed No. 10 ranked and second-seeded SMU in Dallas to advance to the Third Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Missouri went on a nine-match win streak (eight SEC matches) from Oct. 9 to Nov. 10. It marked MU's longest win streak since 2016 (13 matches, nine SEC matches).

Irons coached four All-SEC players, four AVCA Central All-Region players and a trio of All-Americans in 2024.

Graduate outside hitter Mychael Vernon was tabbed an AVCA Third-Team All-American while senior right side hitter Jordan Iliff and junior libero Maya Sands were selected AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans. 

Vernon, the 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year and the 2024 AVCA Central Region Player of the Year, ranked third in the SEC with 504 kills (4.27 kills/set, ninth in the SEC) and 561.5 points (4.76 points/set, ninth in the SEC) in 2024.

Iliff ranked fifth in the SEC for points (546.5, 4.63 points/set, 10th in SEC) and seventh for kills (449, 3.81 kills/set, 11th in SEC) this season. She also recorded a Mizzou single-season record 68 aces which led the SEC (sixth in the NCAA, 0.58 aces/set, eighth in NCAA).

Sands, the 2023 and 2024 SEC Libero of the Year, led the SEC with 4.53 digs per set and ranked second in the league with 535 total digs (35th in the NCAA) this season. Her 535 digs this campaign rank sixth all-time for a single season at Mizzou.

Setter Marina Crownover was named All-SEC and to the AVCA Central All-Region Team. The redshirt sophomore ranked second in the SEC with 10.85 assists per set and fourth in the league with 1,139 assists. In the NCAA, Crownover was 15th for assists per set.

In Irons' first season, Mizzou earned an impressive 18-13 mark including a .500 (9-9) record in SEC play with Dawn Sullivan earning SEC Coach of the Year.

In SEC play, Missouri went on both three-match and four-match win streaks in 2023, while also securing five wins over top-50 AVCA (based on KPI, Pablo, and RPI rankings) teams and nine wins over top-100 AVCA teams including two ranked wins over Auburn (#23 and #24, Oct. 20 & Nov. 12). 

The eight-win overall improvement from 2022 (nine wins), tied for 12th nationally and ranked second among Power Five institutions and helped propel Missouri to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers secured a first-round win over Delaware before being eliminated by top-seed Nebraska. 

Under his guidance, three Tigers earned All-SEC honors, while two received 2023 AVCA Southeast All-Region recognition. 

Sophomore libero Maya Sands was named SEC Libero of the Year and selected to the All-SEC Team. Additionally, she also earned a spot on the 2023 Southeast All-Region Team. Sands paced the SEC with a career-best 542 digs (4.71 digs/set) in 2023. She ranked 32nd in the NCAA for digs and produced double-digit digs in every match of Mizzou's regular season (29 of 31 total matches)

Junior right side Jordan Iliff was also tabbed as an All-SEC team member, after leading the Tigers in 2023 with a career-best 388 kills (3.40 kills/set, 10th in the SEC), which ranked seventh in the SEC. She also accounted for 468 of Mizzou’s points (4.11 points/set, eighth in the SEC) for sixth in the league. Iliff was also named an AVCA Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention for her play in 2023. 

Freshman setter Sierra Dudley made her way onto the seven-member All-Freshman Team. Dudley posted 20 or more assists in 17 straight matches this season, with nine or more assists in every SEC contest this campaign including 30 or more assists in 14-straight matches from Sept. 24 to Nov. 12. She was the top true freshman setter in the conference in 2023. 

UNLV (2021-22)

Irons spent the 2022 season on Sullivan's staff at UNLV. The duo led the Rebels to the 2022 Mountain West Conference Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Rebels went 17-1 in conference play, beating the longest win streak in program history, which was 12 wins in-a-row, set in the shortened Spring 2021 season.

With Sullivan, Irons coached 2022 MWC Player of the Year Isabel Martin and Jhenna Gabriel who earned the league's Newcomer of the Year. Martin, Gabriel, and Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos were selected first-team all-conference, and Jordyn Freeman was an Honorable Mention honoree.

Martin was also named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Honorable Mention and selected to the AVCA's 2022 Pacific South All-Region Team.

At UNLV, Irons was primarily tasked with defensive systems and opponent scouting.

Irons is well-versed in his knowledge of the game and has a plethora of experience both on the collegiate and international stages. He has previously coached at Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and UC Santa Barbara along with the USA NORCECA (North, Central America, and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) Continental Championships Team. He also served as a practice player for the USA women's Olympic team in 2020 and 2021.

As an assistant coach at Oklahoma, he shifted the entire blocking system, which resulted in a pair of top 10 blockers in the Big 12 conference and an NCAA tournament berth for the Sooners.

UCSB (2013-19)

In 2016, he was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's National Assistant Coach of the Year after he helped guide UC Santa Barbara to their second 20-win season in the last 25 years. Irons was then elevated to the Gauchos' Associate Head Coach ahead of the 2019 season.

In April 2019, he was selected to the AVCA's Thirty Under 30 Award list and was one of just two recipients from the men's NCAA Division I-II level.

Irons was involved in all facets of the UCSB men's volleyball program, including recruiting, scouting, game planning, practice coordination, operations, and community service. With Irons on the staff, UCSB accrued a 99-68 record throughout six seasons.

Irons, a Hanford, California, native, played collegiately at UCSB from 2008-11, totaling at least 250 kills and 100 digs in all three of his seasons as a starting right-side hitter. He was named to the 2011 All-NCAA Tournament Team after leading the Gauchos in kills and ranking second in blocks and digs at the National Tournament, guiding his squad to a runner-up finish. Irons totaled 953 kills, 575 digs, and 174 blocks over his career at UC Santa Barbara.

Irons graduated from UCSB in 2011, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Geography.