Photo by: Grace-Anne Matocha
Cunningham hired as assistant coach
7/23/2020 1:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTSVILLE – Bearkat Volleyball head coach Brenda Gray named former Southland Conference Player of the Year Taylor Cunningham as an assistant coach on Monday for the upcoming 2020 season.
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Cunningham, a Huntsville native who starred for the Kats from 2015 to 2018, served as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2019 season following a 2018 season that saw her earn honors as the Southland Conference Player of the Year. A three-time all-SLC player in her career, she also earned all-America honors in 2018 and was named to the academic all-SLC team in each of her three years of eligibility.
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"I am excited for Taylor to come on full-time, expanding her role from last year," Gray said. "She has all of the characteristics you would want in a coach. Our players respect her and she has a true passion for the game."Â
She was named the SLC Player of the Week five times in 2018 and became just the third Bearkat in history to claim the honor of the SLC Player of the Year and the first since 2012. It came as little surprise after a season that had her name littered among the SLC statistical leaders all year long.
After having playing front row during her first three year, she moved into a six-rotation role as a senior and flourished, posting 15 double-doubles in the regular season and pushing her way on to the all-tournament squad at the SLC Tournament with a triple-double in the opening round vs McNeese.
Cunningham led the Southland with 3.91 kills per set, while also ranking ninth in attack percentage (.298), sixth in blocks (1.18 bps) and just missing out on the league's top 10 with 3.30 digs per set.
In total, she accounted for an average of 4.69 points per set, which was more than a half of a point per set more than anyone else in the Southland Conference.Â
She finished her career ranked 14th all-time at SHSU in kills and tied for third all-time with 410 total blocks.
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Cunningham, a Huntsville native who starred for the Kats from 2015 to 2018, served as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2019 season following a 2018 season that saw her earn honors as the Southland Conference Player of the Year. A three-time all-SLC player in her career, she also earned all-America honors in 2018 and was named to the academic all-SLC team in each of her three years of eligibility.
Â
"I am excited for Taylor to come on full-time, expanding her role from last year," Gray said. "She has all of the characteristics you would want in a coach. Our players respect her and she has a true passion for the game."Â
She was named the SLC Player of the Week five times in 2018 and became just the third Bearkat in history to claim the honor of the SLC Player of the Year and the first since 2012. It came as little surprise after a season that had her name littered among the SLC statistical leaders all year long.
After having playing front row during her first three year, she moved into a six-rotation role as a senior and flourished, posting 15 double-doubles in the regular season and pushing her way on to the all-tournament squad at the SLC Tournament with a triple-double in the opening round vs McNeese.
Cunningham led the Southland with 3.91 kills per set, while also ranking ninth in attack percentage (.298), sixth in blocks (1.18 bps) and just missing out on the league's top 10 with 3.30 digs per set.
In total, she accounted for an average of 4.69 points per set, which was more than a half of a point per set more than anyone else in the Southland Conference.Â
She finished her career ranked 14th all-time at SHSU in kills and tied for third all-time with 410 total blocks.
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