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Women's Volleyball
Campus Aerial

Molly Alvey

Head Coach
PositionHead Coach
Phone513-556-2877
Emailmolly.alvey@uc.edu
Molly Alvey
Molly Alvey was named the 12th head coach of the University of Cincinnati volleyball program on Feb. 15, 2012.

Now entering her 13th season as head coach, Alvey has already achieved significant success, and is determined to continue to elevate the program as it prepares for its second year in the Big 12 in 2024.

Alvey took Cincinnati to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2018 before leading the Bearcats to one of the greatest seasons in school history in 2019. She guided the Bearcats to a first-ever Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament and an American Athletic Conference regular season championship. UC was the NCAA Division I statistical champion in kills per set and assists per set and received its first-ever postseason ranking, coming in at No. 19 in the nation.

Alvey has compiled 249 career wins in 15 years as a head coach, with previous stops at Houston and Southern Indiana. She coached Olympic gold medalist Jordan Thompson (2015-19), who is set to compete in her second Olympic Games this summer in Paris. 

In 2023, Alvey guided the Bearcats’ transition from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12 Conference. Despite losing two of their starters to injury, the Bearcats saw a three-spot improvement from their preseason projection. The slate was highlighted by major wins over Big 12 foes TCU and Kansas State. In addition, middle blocker Zeta Washington collected Big 12 All-Rookie honors – the first-ever Bearcat to procure a yearly Big 12 award. Washington was the Bearcats' highest-rated recruit in program history, coming in at No. 6 for her position and No. 31 overall in the Class of 2023. 

Alvey and her staff have signed back-to-back top-40 recruiting classes (2023, 2024). The 2024 class ranked fourth in the Big 12 and 37th in the nation, according to Prep Dig, while the 2023 class was the highest-ever at No. 21. 

The 2022 season saw Abby Walker and Carly Glendinning earn AAC Second Team All-Conference accolades. In total, 11 Bearcats collected All-AAC distinction under Alvey. 

The Bearcats finished the 2021 season 19-9 overall and 14-6 in conference play. The season was highlighted by Abby Walker earning AAC Freshman of the Year honors, the first Bearcat to earn this award since Jordan Thompson did in 2015. She finished fifth in the conference in service aces (39), eighth in hitting percentage (.312) and 17th in kills per set (2.53). She was an AAC Offensive Player of the Week selection and earned a spot on the honor roll three times in 2021.

Senior Maria Mallon broke a slew of records her senior season, earning herself multiple spots in the UC record book. She sits in the number seven spot in career services aces with 114. She owns the eighth spot in both career kills and digs for the Bearcats during the rally-scoring era with 1,251 total career kills and 1,113 total career digs. She is also only the ninth player in Bearcats' volleyball history to join the elite 1,000 kills-1,000 digs club - joining former teammates Carly Nolan and Jordan Thompson, with all three coached by head coach Molly Alvey. For the fourth consecutive season, Mallon secured her fourth All-Conference accolade, receiving First Team All-Conference recognition in 2018 and 2019 and Second All-Conference recognition in 2020. 

The 2020 season was impacted by COVID-19, moving to the Spring of 2021. The Bearcats finished 6-7 overall, and 4-4 in conference play.

The level of Bearcats volleyball continued to rise under Alvey's leadership in 2019. UC went 15-1 in conference play to earn the outright American Athletic Conference regular season title and make its third NCAA postseason appearance in four years. The first-round win over VCU in NCAA Tournament marked the 200th win in Alvey's career. The team advanced to the second round of the tournament for the sixth time in program history and faced No. 2 ranked and No. 6 seed host Pitt. In a thrilling five-set match, the Bearcats pulled off the win over Pitt and advanced on to NCAA Regional play as one of the final 16 teams for the first time in school history. At the next stage, the magic was barely cut short as UC lost 3-2 to national powerhouse Penn State at the Stanford Regional by a slim margin. After the conclusion of the 2019 season, UC was the NCAA Division-I statistical champion in kills per set and assists per set and received its first postseason ranking, coming in at No. 19 in the nation. Alvey's primary starting lineup during the 2019 season consisted of just one upperclassman.

The 2019 season was the final season of USA team member Jordan Thompson. Alvey saw her recruit's career finish as one of the top players ever in NCAA volleyball. Thompson finished ranked 7th in the NCAA all-time kills list. She was named the first First Team All-American and Region Player of the Year in Bearcats history. Thompson also was a Academic All-American. Her senior year saw her break UC's all-time kills record and become just the 6th player in NCAA Division-I history to record 50 kills in a match, breaking her own UC and AAC single-match record. Alvey also saw sophomore Maria Mallon earn First Team All-AAC honors again and earn All-Region Honorable Mention notice. Setter Armania Heckenmueller, also a sophomore, led the nation in assists per set and was named All-AAC Second Team. Fellow sophomore Adria Oliver was also a All-AAC Second Team honoree.

Alvey once again led the Bearcats to a historic season in 2018 as UC reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history. The team started the season with some momentum as it took down No. 25 Colorado State in their own tournament and also notched notable wins against prominent programs such as Florida State, Dayton and Wichita State. After a 15-3 conference campaign, UC earned the second NCAA Tournament at-large bid in conference history and went on to defeat Illinois State 3-0 in the Milwaukee regional. The team finished the season 26-8 after losing in the second round to No. 15 Marquette. UC finished the year ranked 12th in the nation in hitting percentage, 24th in assists per set and 25th in kills per set and ranked 24th in the nation in RPI.
 
Individually, redshirt-junior Jordan Thompson made the 2018 season one to remember as she led the nation in kills, points, kills per set and points per set for all but one week in season play. She became the fifth Bearcats player to earn multiple All-America honors as she was named to the AVCA Third Team. Thompson was also the AAC unanimous Player of the Year, a two-time AVCA National Player of the Week and eight-time AAC Offensive Player of the Week. She broke numerous records in 2018, including single-season kills and points at UC and the AAC, career kills and points for the AAC and single-match kills for UC and the AAC. Additionally, Jade Tingelhoff was named the AAC Setter of the Year for the second time of her career and freshman Maria Mallon was named All-AAC First Team.
 
The Bearcats maintained excellence in the classroom as the team posted a 3.578 GPA during the fall semester with 16 students recording a 3.0 or higher, including eleven on the Dean’s List with a 3.4 or higher. Armania Heckenmueller led the way with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Thompson added an academic accolade to her lengthy list of awards by being named a 2018 Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team honoree. Despite playing seven of the team's twelve games in St. Ursula Arena before opening the new Fifth Third Arena, the Bearcats set a new program average per game attendance record. In the first official contest in the new arena, UC took down Wichita State in a 3-0 sweep. The Bearcats would win all five matches played in Fifth Third, winning all but two sets.

She completed her most prolific season as a head coach in 2016, earning American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors and leading her team into the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats finished the season with a 22-10 record and a 17-3 mark in conference play, good for a second-place finish. Cincinnati earned the first NCAA at-large bid in American history when it was drawn into the Gainesville regional for the first round to face No. 16 Florida State.

The 2017-18 squad went 13-19 overall and 11-9 in conference play while facing five ranked opponents and playing the whole season without preseason conference Player of the Year Jordan Thompson. Junior Carly Nolan was a unanimous selection to the AAC First-Team while teammate Erica Kostelac landed on the Second Team. Academically, the team earned an in-season fall GPA of 3.58 with four student athletes (a third of the team) achieving 4.0's during the semester.

During the 2016-17 season, Alvey guided the team to a top-25 win at Wichita State as well as three wins over teams in the RPI top-50. The Bearcats finished the season ranked No. 38 in the RPI, up 17 spots from the beginning of the season and 121 spots from the final rankings of 2014. Additionally, UC completed two streaks of 10 consecutive set victories, a feat which had previously not been accomplished since 2010.

Led by Alvey’s coach of the year honor, the UC volleyball team collected seven postseason conference awards in 2016, the most for the team since 2001. Sophomores Jordan Thompson and Jade Tingelhoff were named the Player and Setter of the Year, respectively, while both were named to the All-Conference First Team along with classmate Carly Nolan. Senior Ciara Hill picked up Second Team All-Conference honors. Thompson continued her awards haul when she was named AVCA All-North Region and Honorable Mention All-America.

During her fourth season at UC in 2015-16, Alvey led the Bearcats to a third-place finish in The American with a 21-10 overall record and a 13-7 mark in league play. She guided a young team that included Thompson, the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Conference honoree, and Nolan, another First Team all-league selection. Additionally, senior Emma Roberson earned First Team Academic All-America accolades to lead the team to a strong semester in the classroom, earning a collective 3.3 GPA and the AVCA Team Academic Award.

Prior to the 2015 season, Alvey received acclaim from Prep Volleyball with the nation’s 26th-best recruiting class, including Thompson and Tinglehoff, ranked Nos. 44 and 96, respectively. It was the first UC recruiting class recognized by Prep Volleyball since the 2010 class was named to the honorable mention list.

The 2014-15 school year was a record-breaking year for the volleyball team in the classroom. Under Alvey’s guidance the team posted a 3.475 GPA, including a department-high 3.648 during the spring semester. The top marks earned the Bearcats the AVCA Team Academic Award for the second time since 2013. Additionally in 2014, the head coach mentored junior right side hitter Roberson to Second Team All-American Athletic Conference honors.

In 2012, during her first year at the helm of the program, Alvey led Cincinnati to a fifth-place finish in the BIG EAST standings and its eighth consecutive bid to the BIG EAST Championship where it advanced to the semifinal round for the fourth straight year. Alvey guided her team through a tough schedule, playing 11 matches against teams ranked in the top-25 of the AVCA Coaches' poll, and two others against teams receiving votes.

That season, Alvey tutored senior All-American Jordanne Scott, a unanimous pick to the All-BIG EAST First Team, as well as the AVCA All-Northeast Region First Team and the AVCA All-America Honorable Mention team. Seniors Becca Refenes and Emily Hayden and junior Emmi MacIntyre were named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2012.

Alvey came to Cincinnati with three years of head coaching experience, including two season at the University of Houston in 2010 and 2011, and a one-year stint at NCAA DII Southern Indiana in 2004.

Alvey's 2011 Cougars were ranked as high as 38th in the AVCA RPI while her 2010 team finished third in CUSA, earning the school’s first top-three finish since 2005. During her two seasons at Houston, she mentored five student-athletes who earned a total of seven conference postseason awards. Lucy Charuk was a two-time All-Conference USA First Team selection in 2010 and 2011 and went on to earn AVCA All-Region and Third Team All-America honors in both seasons under Alvey’s tutelage. Charuk also earned a spot on the Canadian national team during the summer of 2010.

Not only did Alvey have success on the court in her time at UH, but she also guided the program to a 3.37 GPA during the 2010-11 academic year, the highest departmental GPA and the best in program history, earning the squad the AVCA Team Academic Award.

Prior to Houston, Alvey spent five seasons at the University of Mississippi, including the final two seasons as associate head coach. During her five-year tenure in Oxford, Alvey was part of a coaching staff that guided Ole Miss to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007.

In that time, Alvey was responsible for coaching two-time All-SEC setter Rachel Kieckhaefer who also picked up AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention honors as a junior. She also played a part in developing All-SEC selection Jaclyn Toohey as well as SEC All-Freshman selections Jackie Jones, Regina Thomas and Whitney Craven. As recruiting coordinator, Alvey helped secure the nation's 23rd-ranked recruiting class in 2009.

In 2006, the Rebels advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history while tying the school record for conference wins in a season with 10. Ole Miss then advanced to the NCAA tournament for a second-straight season in 2007 with a 25-9 mark on the year and a record-setting 14 wins in SEC play. The Rebels finished third in the league and second in the western division that season while posting the first 20-win season since 1989.

Alvey spent the 2004 season as the head coach at the University of Southern Indiana, leading the Screaming Eagles to Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) regular-season and tournament titles en route to the program's second-ever NCAA Division II National Championship tournament berth. In her time at USI, Alvey coached two all-region selections and the program's second All-America selection, Laura Ellerbusch.

She began her career at Temple University in 2001 where she spent three seasons as a graduate assistant coach. She was part of a program that posted an overall record of 72-25 (.742), claimed an Atlantic 10 Conference championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 2002. Alvey was a part of a staff that coached A-10 Player of the Year Xu Yun in 2002 and two-time A-10 Setter of the Year Allison Runk in 2002 and 2003. The Owls featured eight first-team all-conference selections during her tenure. While at TU, Alvey earned her MBA in international business administration.

Alvey played volleyball and basketball at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, earning her bachelor's degree in economics in 2001. Alvey lettered all four seasons as a setter for the volleyball team and held the school's career record for assists (4,340) until 2004. She helped her team to an 82-59 overall record during her career, earning all-conference honors as a junior and senior. As part of the basketball team she was an all-conference selection at point guard as a senior and held the single-season three-point percentage record at .456. Alvey was inducted into the Center College Athletics Hall of Fame in October of 2016.
 

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