Alicia Wood guided St. Olaf to one of the school’s best volleyball seasons ever, finishing the MIAC regular season undefeated at 11-0 and earning the league’s top seed in last month’s postseason tournament in her second season on the Hill in Northfield, MN. The Oles captured two of the league’s four major awards: Wood was named MIAC Coach of the Year by the coaches, while senior Morgan Ryan repeated as MIAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Although St. Olaf fell in five sets to Saint Benedict in the MIAC finals, the team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the round of 32 in the DIII Regionals before losing in five sets to regional host Illinois Wesleyan. The squad finished 27-9, the most wins since 2010.
“Yes, very glad that we were able to get to the NCAA tournament, finish in the second round, and make history again for our program,” Wood said in a phone interview with MSR last week. “A lot to be proud of.”
Wood also made history as the first MIAC coach of color to win the league’s top coaching honor. When asked about diversity in the sport, she noted that representation among Black athletes and coaches is growing.
“I think the diversity among the athletes is growing, especially in DIII,” Wood said. “The most representation of Black athletes is in Division I and II. Division III is significantly lower, but it’s growing from a head coach perspective as well.”
NCAA racial demographics reported in February showed that DIII saw the largest percentage increase in Black head coaches since 2013-14—48%. In this year’s regionals, Wood and Asbury head coach Tiffany Horton were the only two Black head coaches in the field. Horton, like Wood, was named her conference’s coach of the year.
“I had to congratulate Tiffany and let her know how proud I was,” Wood said. “Our representation hopefully makes an impact and is making a difference in volleyball communities around us.”
Wood’s first season at St. Olaf ended 19-10, with a MIAC playoff berth. She started her coaching career in Ohio and Indiana at the high school and club levels after graduating from Ursuline College in 2015 with a double major in sports management and business administration, and a minor in coaching. She arrived at St. Olaf in 2024 after four seasons as Illinois College head coach, where she won conference coach of the year in her final season. She previously held assistant positions at DePauw University (2018–19) and three seasons at Cuyahoga Community College.
Interestingly, Wood didn’t initially envision herself coaching volleyball. “I used to be a basketball player. I wanted to be in the WNBA and coach basketball,” she said. “When I gave up basketball and found volleyball, my dream transferred to coaching at the highest level in volleyball. My goal has always been to be a college head coach, and DIII philosophy really aligns with my values.”
Wood emphasized that St. Olaf’s success is meant to be sustainable, not a one-season phenomenon. “Continuing to schedule tough opponents and recruiting well are big priorities,” she said. “People know about St. Olaf, but they haven’t seen us as a powerhouse. Our challenge now is to prove consistently that we’re an NCAA competitor.”
“If people don’t see us for how capable we are, we’re going to prove it and continue to prove it,” she concluded.
Finally… Former Gopher WBB player Gadiva Hubbard, now in her second season as North Florida assistant coach and basketball operations director, was on the bench as the Ospreys defeated Bethune-Cookman 61-57 in the Osprey Thanksgiving Classic last Friday.