North Florida Athletics Names Abby Gilleland Head Volleyball Coach
1/20/2026 11:30:00 AM | Volleyball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nick Morrow named Abby Gilleland the seventh Head Coach in the 35-year history of the North Florida Volleyball program on Tuesday.
"I'm incredibly grateful and excited to join the University of North Florida," Gilleland said. "I want to thank Nick Morrow and the administration for believing in me and entrusting me with the opportunity to lead this program and incredible group of student-athletes. I'm eager to get to work with our team, build meaningful relationships, connect with our alumni and interact with the entire Osprey community."Â
"We're thrilled to welcome Abby Gilleland as the next Head Coach of North Florida Volleyball," Morrow added. "Abby is one of the brightest young coaches in the sport, with a proven record of competitive success, player development and program building at the highest levels of collegiate volleyball. Her experience across multiple programs, combined with her outstanding recruiting reputation, has prepared her exceptionally well to lead our program. Success has followed Abby everywhere she has coached, and we expect North Florida to compete for ASUN Championships and earn its first NCAA Volleyball Championship appearance under her leadership. Abby's vision, energy, and commitment to developing the whole student-athlete align perfectly with our mission, and we're excited about the future of North Florida Volleyball."
Gilleland commands the helm at North Florida after she most recently spent one season as an Assistant Coach, Camp Director and General Manager at Florida in 2025. In her time at Florida, Gilleland helped guide the Gators to the 2025 NCAA Tournament Second Round with a 16-12 record and 9-6 SEC mark.
She mentored five student-athletes to All-SEC honors and five AVCA Southeast Region team selections in 2025. She assisted Lily Hayes to be named AVCA Southeast Region Freshman of the Year and Jaela Auguste to earn AVCA Third Team All-American distinction. She made an impact on the recruiting trail with the No. 29-ranked recruiting class in 2025, according to PrepDig.
Prior to her time at Florida, Gilleland spent three seasons in an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator role at Marquette from 2022-24, where she helped earn a 73-23 record and 49-5 Big East mark. While with Marquette, Gilleland guided the Golden Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2022 and 2024 NCAA Regional Semifinals berths and a pair of Big East Conference Regular Season Championships in 2022 and 2023.
Gilleland played an invaluable role in Marquette's third-straight Big East Regular Season title with a 16-2 conference mark, which earned the Golden Eagles an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Her offense ranked top-10 in the nation with both 13.34 assists per set and 14.41 kills per set in 2022.
In her first season at Marquette in 2022, the Golden Eagles surpassed program records in Division I history for wins with 29 and conference wins with 17 to culminated in a Big East Conference Championship and a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance. Gilleland mentored Yadhira Anchante to 2022 Big East Conference Setter of the Year and AVCA All-American honors.
Prior to Marquette, Gilleland spent three seasons at Connecticut from 2019-21 as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. She helped guide UConn to one of its best seasons in program history in 2021 with a 24-11 record and a 13-5 mark in Big East Conference play that propelled the Huskies to the 2021 NIVC Tournament Final Four. UConn's 13 Big East victories in 2021 were the most in program history, while its 24 total wins were its most since 1995. In 2021, UConn defeated a ranked opponent for the first time ever when it took down No. 19-ranked Creighton.
Gilleland played a key role in guiding McKayla Wuensch to be named 2021 Big East Conference Setter of the Year, the first in program history.
Before UConn, Gilleland served as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2017 and 2018. Gilleland helped coach two Southern Conference All-Freshman selections, four SoCon Player of the Week selections and a pair of All-SoCon Second Team honorees while at Chattanooga.
Prior to her time at Chattanooga, Gilleland served as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at William & Mary in 2016. She coached a pair of The Tribe to the 2016 All-CAA Third Team and All-CAA Rookie Team.
A 2016 graduate of Ohio University with a bachelor's degree in Sports Sciences, Gilleland was a team captain for the Bobcats, who posted a 93-33 record and went 57-7 Mid-American Conference (MAC) mark in her playing career. Gilleland remains top three in the program's record book with 4,702 assists, 10.45 assists per set and a .310 hitting percentage.
Gilleland led Ohio to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2015, in addition to MAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in each of those seasons.
Individually, Gilleland garnered a multitude of accolades such as MAC All-Freshman Team, MAC Tournament MVP and AVCA All-Mideast Region. Gilleland was a two-time AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection, two-time MAC Player of the Year, two-time MAC Setter of the Year, AVCA All-Northeast Region and an NCAA Tournament qualifier.
Gilleland was selected to the All-MAC First Team three different times and was a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete on several occasions. Her other accolades include being named the MAC's NCAA Women of the Year nominee and receiving the conference's Medal of Excellence in 2016.
"I'm incredibly grateful and excited to join the University of North Florida," Gilleland said. "I want to thank Nick Morrow and the administration for believing in me and entrusting me with the opportunity to lead this program and incredible group of student-athletes. I'm eager to get to work with our team, build meaningful relationships, connect with our alumni and interact with the entire Osprey community."Â
"We're thrilled to welcome Abby Gilleland as the next Head Coach of North Florida Volleyball," Morrow added. "Abby is one of the brightest young coaches in the sport, with a proven record of competitive success, player development and program building at the highest levels of collegiate volleyball. Her experience across multiple programs, combined with her outstanding recruiting reputation, has prepared her exceptionally well to lead our program. Success has followed Abby everywhere she has coached, and we expect North Florida to compete for ASUN Championships and earn its first NCAA Volleyball Championship appearance under her leadership. Abby's vision, energy, and commitment to developing the whole student-athlete align perfectly with our mission, and we're excited about the future of North Florida Volleyball."
Gilleland commands the helm at North Florida after she most recently spent one season as an Assistant Coach, Camp Director and General Manager at Florida in 2025. In her time at Florida, Gilleland helped guide the Gators to the 2025 NCAA Tournament Second Round with a 16-12 record and 9-6 SEC mark.
She mentored five student-athletes to All-SEC honors and five AVCA Southeast Region team selections in 2025. She assisted Lily Hayes to be named AVCA Southeast Region Freshman of the Year and Jaela Auguste to earn AVCA Third Team All-American distinction. She made an impact on the recruiting trail with the No. 29-ranked recruiting class in 2025, according to PrepDig.
Prior to her time at Florida, Gilleland spent three seasons in an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator role at Marquette from 2022-24, where she helped earn a 73-23 record and 49-5 Big East mark. While with Marquette, Gilleland guided the Golden Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2022 and 2024 NCAA Regional Semifinals berths and a pair of Big East Conference Regular Season Championships in 2022 and 2023.
Gilleland played an invaluable role in Marquette's third-straight Big East Regular Season title with a 16-2 conference mark, which earned the Golden Eagles an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Her offense ranked top-10 in the nation with both 13.34 assists per set and 14.41 kills per set in 2022.
In her first season at Marquette in 2022, the Golden Eagles surpassed program records in Division I history for wins with 29 and conference wins with 17 to culminated in a Big East Conference Championship and a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance. Gilleland mentored Yadhira Anchante to 2022 Big East Conference Setter of the Year and AVCA All-American honors.
Prior to Marquette, Gilleland spent three seasons at Connecticut from 2019-21 as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. She helped guide UConn to one of its best seasons in program history in 2021 with a 24-11 record and a 13-5 mark in Big East Conference play that propelled the Huskies to the 2021 NIVC Tournament Final Four. UConn's 13 Big East victories in 2021 were the most in program history, while its 24 total wins were its most since 1995. In 2021, UConn defeated a ranked opponent for the first time ever when it took down No. 19-ranked Creighton.
Gilleland played a key role in guiding McKayla Wuensch to be named 2021 Big East Conference Setter of the Year, the first in program history.
Before UConn, Gilleland served as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2017 and 2018. Gilleland helped coach two Southern Conference All-Freshman selections, four SoCon Player of the Week selections and a pair of All-SoCon Second Team honorees while at Chattanooga.
Prior to her time at Chattanooga, Gilleland served as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at William & Mary in 2016. She coached a pair of The Tribe to the 2016 All-CAA Third Team and All-CAA Rookie Team.
A 2016 graduate of Ohio University with a bachelor's degree in Sports Sciences, Gilleland was a team captain for the Bobcats, who posted a 93-33 record and went 57-7 Mid-American Conference (MAC) mark in her playing career. Gilleland remains top three in the program's record book with 4,702 assists, 10.45 assists per set and a .310 hitting percentage.
Gilleland led Ohio to two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2015, in addition to MAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in each of those seasons.
Individually, Gilleland garnered a multitude of accolades such as MAC All-Freshman Team, MAC Tournament MVP and AVCA All-Mideast Region. Gilleland was a two-time AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection, two-time MAC Player of the Year, two-time MAC Setter of the Year, AVCA All-Northeast Region and an NCAA Tournament qualifier.
Gilleland was selected to the All-MAC First Team three different times and was a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete on several occasions. Her other accolades include being named the MAC's NCAA Women of the Year nominee and receiving the conference's Medal of Excellence in 2016.
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