GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Kailey Keeble has been named the assistant women's volleyball coach at Tusculum University announced TU head coach Hannah Barrett.
Barrett reunites with Keeble, whom she coached the past two seasons at the University of South Alabama.
Keeble, a native of Maryville, Tennessee, comes to Tusculum after completing a stellar collegiate playing career which included two seasons at the University of Tennessee and the last three at South Alabama.
She was a proven winner as a student-athlete as her teams never experienced a losing season. During her playing career, Keeble's teams went a combined 92-50 overall and 58-28 in conference play. In her three seasons at South Alabama, the Jaguars went 65-29 overall and 37-11 in Sun Belt Conference action. She earned All-Conference in her final three seasons and led her teams to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
"I am excited to have Kailey join our staff at Tusculum," said Barrett. "Being a Tennessee native and coming from a coaching family, she is a perfect candidate for the job. Kailey had a stellar playing career at South Alabama and will be a huge contributor to our future success at Tusculum."
In 2023, USA posted a 22-9 record and advanced to the Sun Belt semifinal and later earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Keeble was named the Sun Belt Setter of the Year as she led the league in assists, averaging 10.65 per set which ranked her 15th in the nation. She was named to the All-Sun Belt first team and would later be selected to the Academic All-America® Women's Volleyball second team as selected by the College Sports Communicators.
Keeble was named to the All-Sun Belt second team in 2022 as she finished fourth in the conference in assists per set (10.15) and total assists (1188). She also recorded 375 digs, 56 kills, 57 total blocks and logged a .297 hitting percentage. Earlier in the 2022 season she tabbed the SBC Setter of the Week.
In her inaugural season at South Alabama, she was the starting setter in all 32 matches and earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt first team after leading the Jaguars to the program's first SBC Championship in program history. She led the conference in assists with 1,228 helpers which were ranked 16th nationally. The Jags rolled through the SBC postseason including a 3-0 sweep over Texas State in the title match and claim the Sun Belt crown. Keeble was named the SBC Championship Most Valuable Player in addition to being named to the All-Tournament Team.
USA earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever as the Jags finished with a 25-7 record including a 13-match winning streak to enter the postseason.
Prior to South Alabama, Keeble played two seasons at Tennessee where she saw action in 55 matches for the Lady Vols and recorded 269 assists, 141 digs and eight service aces.
For her collegiate career, she totaled 3,899 assists, 71 service aces and 1,239 digs while playing in 149 matches.
"I am very excited to have the opportunity to work alongside Hannah Barrett, who is someone that was an integral part of the success I had at the college level," Keeble said. "Giving back to the volleyball community is something that is important to me, and being able to do it at Tusculum University is special because it is close to where I grew up. I am excited to get started and can't wait to continue to build onto the winning culture the program has created."
She has served as a coach with the K2 Volleyball Club in Louisville, Tennessee as well as the South Alabama Volleyball Academy (SAVA) in Mobile. She assisted with all aspects of the programs including: athlete preparation for competitions and tournaments; boosted athletic performance by devising strategic training programs; coordinated and scheduled team practices, matches and tournaments; conducted player assessments and evaluations; and demonstrated volleyball fundamentals such as passing, setting, hitting, blocking and serving.
She accounted for a stellar prep career at Heritage High School where she recorded 2,249 assists, 1,681 kills, 1,653 digs and 182 total blocks. She led the Mountaineers to their first TSSAA State Tournament appearance in 2018 and earned Under Armour All-America recognition, MaxPreps All-America distinction, 2017 JVA All-National Team honors and was a 2018 AAU 18-Open All-America. She was rated the No. 9 setter in the country out of high school by PrepVolleyball.com.
She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 2023 from South Alabama in interdisciplinary studies. She is on track to complete her graduate degree from South Alabama in sport management this summer.
