Alison Williams was named as the head coach of the LeTourneau volleyball program in spring of 2022. She enters her fourth season at the helm of the program in 2025.
FAST FACTS
- Years at LeTourneau: 3 (2022-present)
- Overall record (at LeTourneau): 43-43 (.500)
- Conference record (at LeTourneau): 18-20 (.474)
- Conference Tournaments: 3
- Overall coaching record: 157-161 (.494 in 11 seasons)
- Conference Coach of the Year: 1 (2019, SSAC - at Martin Methodist)
- AVCA Region Coach of the Year: 1 (2019, at Martin Methodist)
- AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award (2018)
- 2022 Bryan College Athletics Hall of Fame inductee
PROGRAM ACCOLADES UNDER WILLIAMS
- 3 ASC Libero of the Year awards (Morgan Nix; 2022, 2023, 2024)
- 1 ASC Newcomer of the Year (Yari Ortiz, 2023)
- 17 All-ASC selections
- 14 ASC weekly award honors
- 9 CSC Academic All-District honorees
- 39 ASC Academic All-Conference selections
- 1 ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor recipient (Allison Smith, 2023-24)
- 3 AVCA Team Academic Awards
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS (at LeTourneau)
LeTourneau reached the semifinals of the ASC Tournament for the first time under Williams and the YellowJackets went 15-17 overall in 2024. Morgan Nix concluded her illustrious career as the program's all-time leader in digs and broke the ASC record for digs per set in a career. Seven players earned All-ASC honors, including Nox and Kaci Monk on the first team with Nix also earning her third straight Libero of the Year honor. LeTourneau picked up its first win over Mary Hardin-Baylor in over a decade during the season and reached the ASC Tournament semifinals after a 3-1 win over Howard Payne.
In 2023, Williams led her team to a fourth-place finish in the ASC and the program's sixth straight ASC Tournament appearance. Morgan Nix earned her second straight ASC Libero of the Year honor and led Division III with program records in digs (757) and digs per set (7.27). Yari Ortiz was named the ASC Newcomer of the Year as the YellowJackets had six All-ASC selections (three on first team). The program also had 14 earn ASC Academic All-Conference.
In Williams' first year at LeTourneau in 2022, the YellowJackets went 15-12 and advanced to the ASC Tournament. Morgan Nix was the ASC's Libero of the Year after a record-setting season in which she finished in the top-five nationally in digs and digs per set. The YellowJackets collected big wins throughout the year, including a five-set win at ETBU. Four players garnered All-ASC honors, while Nix was a three-time ASC Defensive Player of the Week. The program put three players on CSC Academic All-District.
PRIOR TO LETOURNEAU
Williams came to LeTourneau with over 10 years of collegiate coaching experience.
Williams played collegiately at Bryan College (Tenn.) before moving into the coaching ranks. During her career as a student-athlete, Williams starred on the volleyball court where she finished with over 1,400 career kills in over 550 sets played and set the program record for total aces.
After graduating, she served as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 2011-14. While in Dayton, Tenn., Williams aided the Lions to a remarkable 85-33 (.720) record and the program won its first-ever Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season and tournament championships in 2012 and 2013, qualifying for the NAIA Tournament both seasons.
Following the 2014 campaign, she accepted her first head coaching position, taking over at Martin Methodist (now known as Tennessee Southern) accumulating a 101-93 record in six years. In her first season, she led the RedHawks to the most wins in five seasons and reached the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. Her teams succeeded off the court as well, with Sydney Arnold earning back-to-back SSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
She guided the RedHawks to their first-ever NAIA Tournament victory in 2019 after going 27-11 overall and 12-1 in conference play and Williams' squads registered three consecutive 20-win campaigns as she posted a .673 winning percentage over her last three seasons with a 70-34 record.
For her efforts, Williams was named 2019 SSAC Coach of the Year and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/NAIA Co-Region Coach of the Year.
Taking over the Martin Methodist volleyball program in August of 2014, Williams made an immediate impact as her RedHawks won the most league matches since 2010 and made their first appearance in the SSAC Tournament. With her program claiming 14 wins in 2016, it marked the most victories in a single season for Martin Methodist since 2011 while the RedHawks' 10 conference wins were the most since 2007.
The Williams-led Martin Methodist team finished the 2017 season with a 21-11 (.656) overall record for the most match victories since 2007. Awarded AVCA Thirty Under 30 distinction, Williams guided the RedHawks to a 9-5 league record and a runner-up finish in the SSAC regular season race. For the second-straight year, Williams' team posted the highest-grade point average in the athletic department and earned a NAIA Scholar-Team award.
Outdoing Martin Methodist's 2017 season, Williams took the RedHawks to 22 wins in the fall of 2018 as her team posted a 22-12 (.650) overall record and went 12-4 in the SSAC for the most conference triumphs in a single season since 2007. Finishing as the SSAC's regular season and tournament runner-up, Williams saw six of her players named all-conference and three earn a spot on the All-SSAC First Team.
Over her last three seasons, Williams coached her players to a total of 19 all-conference selections, including nine first-team recognitions. Four players garnered player of the year awards with the RedHawks laying claim to both the SSAC Libero and Setter of the Year in 2019. Under Williams' leadership, Arnold earned back-to-back SSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards as Hayley Brisendine became the first Martin Methodist NAIA Volleyball All-American since 2007.
FAMILY
Alison is married to Nick Williams and the couple has two sons, Michael and Andrew, and a daughter, Ava.
YEAR-BY-YEAR
at LeTourneau (43-43)
2022: 15-12, 8-8 ASC
2023: 13-14, 7-7 ASC
2024: 15-17, 3-5 ASC
at Lincoln Memorial (13-25)
2020: 4-6, 4-6 SAC
2021: 9-19, 5-13 SAC
at Martin Methodist (101-93)
2014: 9-18, 7-11 SSAC
2015: 8-22, 6-10 SSAC
2016: 14-19, 11-10 SSAC
2017: 21-11, 9-5 SSAC
2018: 22-12, 12-4 SSAC
2019: 27-11, 12-1 SSAC (regular season champions, SSAC Tournament champions)
Overall: 157-161 in 11 seasons
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT WILLIAMS
"Alison Williams is an up-and-coming coach with the experience, passion, and knowledge necessary to lead a program of excellence. She was on outstanding player and leader for my teams and has a solid track record as a head coach and an assistant coach. Alison knows what it takes to build a championship atmosphere. She teaches excellence and does so for the right reason – to glorify God. Alison understands what it truly means to be a Christian competitor, and her faith is evident in her coaching and her life. She will be a blessing to the program, as well as current and future LETU athletes."
– Leo R. Sayles, Grove City College Associate Athletic Director for Sport Ministry and Head Coach
"Alison Williams is one of my favorite people in collegiate volleyball. She is a talented coach who will make a big impact at LeTourneau by mentoring her players on and off the court. I expect to hear great things out of her YellowJacket teams."
- Dave Shumaker, Northwood University Head Coach
