University of Missouri Athletics

Dawn Sullivan was named the eighth volleyball head coach in University of Missouri history on Dec. 18, 2022.

Sullivan enters her third season at the helm of the program after leading Mizzou to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet 16 bid in 2024.

The 2024 AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year, Sullivan, led 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).

Sullivan 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.

During her first season, Sullivan guided Missouri to an impressive 18-13 mark including a .500 (9-9) record in SEC play, surpassing the Tigers’ combined win total from the past two seasons (nine in 2022, five in 2021). She led MU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2020, while earning 2023 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year honors.

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 her 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 in 2023, with nine or more assists in every SEC contest 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. 

Sullivan was recognized for Missouri’s impressive improvement in 2023, earning SEC Coach of the Year along with Jason Watson of Arkansas, Craig Skinner of Kentucky and Eve Rackham Watt of Tennessee. 

Sullivan is the third Missouri Volleyball Coach to earn the award after Wayne Kreklow earned the distinction in 2013 and 2016. The Coach of the Year honor is the third in Sullivan's career and her second straight after being tabbed Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2022.

Sullivan took over the Tigers program after five seasons as the head coach at UNLV, where she boasted a 109-38 (.741) mark as a head coach. She led the Rebels to the 2022 Mountain West Conference Championship, five-straight postseason appearances and 20 or more wins in four of five seasons, including 54 victories over the last two seasons.

An All-America player at Kansas State, Sullivan has spent all but five years of her career in the Midwest with coaching stints at Iowa State and Illinois State.

Sullivan, named Mountain West Coach of the Year twice, left UNLV as the second most winningest coach in program history with 109 wins. She was the fastest to break the 100-win plateau, achieving the feat in just 136 matches. The Rebels won the Mountain West Championship in spring 2021 and fall 2022 and were the winners of the 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Overall, she led UNLV to five-straight postseason appearances, including NCAA bids in 2020 and 2022.

AT UNLV (2018-22)
The 2022 UNLV squad won the Mountain West regular-season title and qualified for 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.

Sullivan was named the 2022 MWC Coach of the Year while Isabel Martin was awarded the league’s Player of the Year and Jhenna Gabriel earned MWC 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.

Statistically speaking, UNLV ended the season ranked 12th in the NCAA for match win-loss percentage with .839, sat 28th in hitting percentage (.263), 30th for kills per set (13.85) and 44th in the nation for assists per set with 12.71. The Rebels ranked second in the MWC for hitting efficiency (.263), second for both assists per set (12.71) and in kills per set (13.85), they also sat third for digs with 14.42 per set.

Sullivan helped Mariena Hayden become the program's first back-to-back conference player of the year (Spring 2021 & Fall 2021 Mountain West), as well as American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American and Pacific South All-Region Team honoree for back-to-back seasons. Moreover, Hayden has also become only the fourth Rebel to be tabbed an all-conference team performer three straight years.

Additionally, Kate Brennan was named to the all-conference team in Spring 2021 after being an honorable mention selection the previous two seasons. Macy Smith was also named to the Spring 2021 All-MW Team, while Shelby Capllonch garnered Honorable Mention status.

During the Spring 2021 season, Sullivan guided the Rebels to the best start in program history (13-0) and, in turn, extended the longest win streak to 13 matches after the team's win over Illinois State in the first round of the NCAA Championship. Unfortunately, the streak was snapped in the second round of the tournament by eventual national champion and No. 2 seed Kentucky.

During the Fall 2021 season, Sullivan helped the Rebels to the best single-season record in program history with 28 wins, including the 2021 NIVC title.

The Rebels led the MW in five statistical categories in 2021, sitting atop the conference in aces per set, assists per set, hitting percentage, kills per set and winning percentage. Meanwhile, they were 32nd or better in all five of those, including sixth in hitting percentage (.298) and seventh in winning percentage (.929). Hayden led the country in aces per set and in service aces.

Sullivan became the fastest coach in program history to 50 wins - with a victory over San Jose State on March 19, 2021 - doing so in only 73 tries. Her 42 combined victories during the 2018 and 2019 seasons were the most in that time frame for any head coach at UNLV. Additionally, those 22- and 20-win totals from years one and two, respectively, matched the most 20-win seasons by a Rebel head coach, tying Allison Keeley (2004-10) and Cindy Frederick (2011-17).

In Sullivan's first season at the helm of the Rebel program, she led the Scarlet & Gray to an overall record of 22-12 and a fifth-place finish (10-8) in the Mountain West. The team earned an at-large berth in the NIVC and advanced to the semifinals after it defeated UC Irvine, Fresno State and Portland. Coincidentally, the final match of the year took place against her old squad, the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames, Iowa.

Delving deeper, those 22 wins in 2019 helped UNLV post a plus-14-win differential from the previous season’s eight-win haul, which marked the largest improvement by an NCAA Division squad that season.

The Rebels concluded 2019 ranked in the top 100 of eight different NCAA statistical categories, such as: first in aces (251), third in aces per set (1.93), 38th in team kills (1,655), 61st in team assists (1,526), 66th in hitting percentage (.235), 67th in team total attacks (4,369), 80th in winning percentage (.647) and 99th in team digs (1,827).

Individually, Hayden led the NCAA in aces (114) and aces per set (0.90) and finished the year second overall in points (690.0), fifth in points per set (5.43) and 10th in total kills (543). Hayden's 114 aces were not only a UNLV single-season record, but they were the third most recorded by an NCAA student-athlete since the 25-point scoring format was adopted in 2008.

Sullivan earned her first career win against Southern Utah, a 3-0 sweep of the Thunderbirds, during the season-opening UNLV Invitational on Aug. 24, 2019. With the addition of 21 more triumphs, she became the second-winningest first-year coach in program history with 22.

In 2019, UNLV began the season slowly with a 4-9 showing before it turned things around with a nine-match win streak that evolved into a run of 16 wins in 18 contests to finish to the campaign. In all, the Rebels went 20-11 overall and finished third in the MW behind a 15-3 mark.

After opening the conference portion of the season with a pair of losses to Wyoming and then-No. 17 Colorado State, UNLV began 16-2 stretch with a 3-1 win at San Diego State, which was the catalyst to rewriting four single-season records: 15 conference wins, eight conference wins, eight-match road win streak and eight-match conference road win streak.

Statistically speaking, UNLV was ranked in the top 100 nine times: second in aces (241), fifth in aces per set (1.88), 21st in team kills (1,688) and team assists (1,568), 52nd in team total attacks (4,358), 71st in hitting percentage (.233), 79th in winning percentage (.645), 83rd in assists per set (12.25) and 85th in kills per set (13.19).

Once again, Hayden excelled under Sullivan’s tutelage, finishing the 2019 campaign first in aces per set (0.69), third in service aces (70), 39th in points per set (4.70), 78th in kills per set (3.76) and 80th in points (479.5) despite missing time due to an injury.

IOWA STATE (2005-2018)
Prior to taking the UNLV job, Sullivan spent 13 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Iowa State. The Cyclones made 12 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, including five regional semifinals and two regional finals. During that 12-year span, the Cyclones were one of only 11 NCAA Division I programs to participate in the postseason in each season.

Sullivan joined Johnson-Lynch's first-year staff with a focus on mentoring the outside hitters. She was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2012 season and served in that role for seven years.

The coaching duo immediately made an impact upon its arrival in Ames as the program upped its win total by eight (to 16) during her first season. That team also finished five spots higher in the Big 12 standings (11th to sixth) from the previous season. One year later, the squad went 21-11 overall and 12-8 in Big 12 play (fourth place) en route to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995.

With Sullivan on staff, ISU volleyball posted 16 or more wins each season, including 12 straight with a minimum of 18 victories. The 2006 season marked the first of seven with 20 or more wins. In 2009, the Cyclones recorded program bests in overall wins with 27, conference victories with 17 and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

From 1996 to 2004, before Johnson-Lynch and Sullivan were with the program, the Cyclones went 13-167 overall with seven last-place finishes in nine seasons in Big 12 competition. Since 2005, ISU went 152-80 in league play with 12 straight double-digit winning seasons. The Cyclones finished second or third in conference play in nine-straight seasons.

The Cyclones had 13 student-athletes earn AVCA All-America honors 23 times, while 16 were recognized as AVCA All-Region performers 27 times. ISU has had 30 student-athletes named to the All-Big 12 Team 38 times. Academically, the team placed 56 student-athletes on Academic All-Big 12 teams, which included a program-record 10 honorees in 2011.

Sullivan began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Illinois State University in 2002 and helped the Redbirds boost their win total from 14 to 19 to 22 before leaving for Iowa State.

AS A PLAYER
Sullivan was a standout player at K-State from 1996-99, helping lead the Wildcats to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996 – the first of four straight during her playing career. She earned second-team All-America honors in 1999 and was inducted into the Wildcats’ Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Sullivan totaled total of 1,611 kills and 1,258 digs, which rank as the third and fourth-most, respectively, in Kansas State program history. She is one of only five KSU players to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.

As a senior, she served as a team captain and was later named an All-American and to the All-Big 12 Team. She also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors in each of her four years. Following graduation, Sullivan played professionally for the Grand Rapids Force of the United States Professional Volleyball League.

PERSONAL
Sullivan and her husband, Josh, have three daughters (Katie, Sarah, and Emily) and one son (Matthew).