Head Women's Volleyball Coach | June 24, 2021 - Present
Ashley was named Head Women's Volleyball Coach on June 24, 2021 and has guided the program to immediate success as she enters her fourth year as the head of the program. In addition to her duties as head women's volleyball coach she is the program's Assistant Athletic Director in charge of scheduling and serves as the program's Senior Woman Administrator.
The Pomeroys went 15-14 overall and 6-11 in the first River States Conference season in 2021. In the final season competing in the USCAA, the Pomeroys went 4-0 at Virginia Beach, Va., to claim the USCAA national championship with a 3-0 win against Bluefield State College. Hannah Zuege was named First-Team All-RSC and a Second-Team All-Region selection.
The Pomeroys built off that success in 2022. With the help of a strong recruiting class, the Pomeroys put together a school-record 26-win season. The Pomeroys went 26-6 overall and 12-6 in the RSC, tying for the fourth-best record in the conference.
With the help of the coaching of Harris and associate head coach Ian Harris, the Pomeroys ranked fifth in the NAIA in service aces in 2022, posting a school-record 283 aces. Katelyn Bucy and Jade Llamas also surpassed the school-record for aces in a season.
Zuege and sophomore Jocelyn Chavez earned First-Team All-RSC honors. Zuege finished with 337 kills, fifth-best in program history, and Chavez' 516 digs were third-best in SMWC history.
In 2023, the Pomeroys won 28 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the River States Conference Tournament.
Experience
Ashley Harris came to SMWC from Berea College where she was the head volleyball coach since 2019. She left Berea as the winningest volleyball coach in the program’s time as an NCAA school. Prior to Berea College, she was the head volleyball coach at Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU). In her five seasons there, became the winningest volleyball coach in its history. Ashley’s teams set numerous school records in her five seasons and in 2018 finished fourth in the nation among NAIA schools with 317 blocks. In 2017, she was named one of the prestigious “30 Under 30” coaches by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Prior to TWU she was an assistant coach at Maryville College in Tennessee.
Personal
Harris was born and raised in Abrams, WI, and played volleyball and softball at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, WI. In volleyball, she was a four-year starter and team captain her senior year when she led the team in blocks and was second in kills. She graduated from Stritch in 2008 with a major in sports management and a minor in communications.
Ashley and her husband Ian live in Terre Haute, IN with their two daughters, Poppy Austinn Harris, and Rayn Journi Harris.
