Shannon Wells named Virginia volleyball head coach

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia director of athletics Carla Williams announced Monday that she has named Shannon Wells as head coach of the Cavaliers’ volleyball program. Wells comes to Virginia after serving on the coaching staff at Florida the past seven seasons.

The associate head coach on Mary Wise’s staff, Wells has served in that role for the past four seasons and been the program’s recruiting coordinator for all seven of her years in Gainesville. During her tenure at UF, the Gators have gone 184-33 (.848) and participated in seven consecutive NCAA tournaments. Florida won Southeastern Conference titles in 2014, 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the Gators advanced to the NCAA Championship finals for the first time since the 2003 season.

This season Florida posted a 21-4 record and reached the NCAA Regional finals before falling to top-seed Wisconsin in five sets. The Gators were 19-3 in SEC play, finishing second to eventual NCAA champion Kentucky.

“We are very excited to have Shannon Wells as Virginia’s head volleyball coach,” Williams said. “She is a perfect fit for who we are currently and what we aspire to be as a volleyball program. First, she is an exceptional person and will be a wonderful addition to the UVA family. She has excelled at every level as a student-athlete and coach. She is very highly regarded and respected across the country in volleyball. We’re ready to get started under her direction.”

“I’m so excited to be the head coach of Virginia volleyball and to start building an elite program,” Wells said. “For me, it’s always been about surrounding yourself with the right people and Virginia has some of the best in college athletics. I want to thank Carla Williams, assistant athletics director Jess Wilk and the entire executive team as well as President Jim Ryan for entrusting me to lead the way. Their investment and support of the volleyball program is great for UVA and for the game of volleyball. I look forward to getting to Grounds, meeting the team and getting to work on something very special.”

Wells arrived in Gainesville in the spring of 2014 after serving as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for Ole Miss in 2013. She previously spent three years as an assistant coach at Ole Miss prior to her promotion to associate head coach.

Before her time on the Rebels’ coaching staff, Wells spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Winthrop Eagles of the Big South Conference. Before heading to Winthrop in 2007, Wells began her coaching career at her alma mater, the University of Southern Indiana, as an assistant coach before operating as a graduate assistant for two years at Morehead State in 2005 and 2006.

An alumna of USI, Wells played four seasons and helped lead her team to 87 wins over that time span – including a school record 27 victories in the 2000 campaign. She ranks first all-time at USI in service aces and kills for her career. A two-time selection as the Great Lakes Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, Wells was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team in 2002 and was a three-time GLVC All-Academic team selection.

For her accomplishments in college, Wells was just the second volleyball player to be inducted into the USI Hall of Fame in February 2013.

She was most recently inducted into the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Hall of Fame.

Wells served as the chair of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Assistant Coaches Committee with a seat on the AVCA Board of Directors. She is a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy and a member of The Alliance of Women Coaches and True North Sports Camp Elevate program.