Missouri Tigers hire new volleyball coach. She’s a former Kansas State standout

Former Kansas State Wildcats standout Dawn Sullivan has been hired as the eighth volleyball coach in Missouri Tigers history, the university in Columbia announced Sunday evening.

Sullivan, who holds a coaching record of 109-38 (.741), takes over at MU after five seasons as head coach at UNLV. She led the Rebels to the 2022 Mountain West Conference championship, five straight postseason appearances and 20 or more wins in four of five seasons, including 54 victories over the last two.

Sullivan was an All-America player at K-State and previously coached the programs at Iowa State and Illinois State.

At Missouri, she takes over for coach Joshua Taylor, who had served in an interim and then permanent capacity since Wayne and Susan Kreklow’s retirement as the program’s coaches in 2018.

The Tigers are coming off back-to-back last-place finishes in the Southeastern Conference and were seeking a spark for the program.

“We had the privilege of speaking with an impressive group of coaches during this competitive search process, but it became clear that Dawn embodies everything we sought for in our next women’s volleyball head coach,” Missouri athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a university news release. “She’s an elite leader, tireless recruiter and a proven winner.”

Sullivan said in the news release that she considers it an honor to take the reins at Mizzou.

“Coaching at Mizzou provided a unique opportunity that I could not pass up,” she said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to build upon the Tigers’ volleyball tradition, and I am looking forward to competing in the SEC, which is top to bottom the best conference in the nation.”

Sullivan was honored as the Mountain West Coach of the Year two times and leaves UNLV as the second-winningest coach in the program’s history with 109 wins. The Rebels won the MWC title in spring 2021 and fall 2022 and also won the 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

During her time in Las Vegas, Sullivan led UNLV to five straight postseason appearances, with NCAA bids in 2020 and 2022.

Sullivan played at K-State from 1996-99, helping to lead the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996. They would go on to qualify for the tournament in the ensuing three years of Sullivan’s college career in Manhattan, Kan.

A second-team All-America in 1999, Sullivan was inducted into the Wildcats’ Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Reed-Francois noted Sullivan’s ties to the region in announcing her hire Sunday evening.

“She has deep Midwestern roots, is smart, driven and student-athlete focused,” the athletic director said. “Dawn understands the incredible history of Mizzou volleyball and has a vision to build upon that great tradition and bring championships to our Tiger community.”