Dawn Sullivan was named the head volleyball coach at UNLV in January 2018, after spending 13 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Iowa State University.
In three years as head of the Rebel volleyball program, Sullivan has earned a total of 83 wins and back-to-back-to-back-to-back trips to the postseason since her arrival, participating in the 2018 and '19 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), as well as the 2020 NCAA Championship, and most recently earning the championship title of the '21 NIVC.Â
Following UNLV's historic, undefeated run (12-0) to the Mountain West regular-season title during the Spring 2021 season, Sullivan was named the Conference's Coach of the Year, becoming the fourth Rebel head coach to be recognized by either the WAC or MW.
In four seasons, she has not only helped Mariena Hayden become the program's first back-to-back conference player of the year (Spring 2021 & Fall 2021 Mountain West), as well as American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American and Pacific South All-Region Team honoreen for back-to-back seasons. Moreover, Hayden has also become only the fourth Rebel to be tabbed an all-conference team performer three straight years.
Additionally, Kate Brennan was named to the all-conference team in Spring 2021 after being an honorable mention selection the previous two seasons. Macy Smith was also named to the Spring 2021 All-MW Team, while Shelby Capllonch garnered Honorable Mention status.
During the Spring 2021 season, Sullivan guided the Rebels to the best start in program history (13-0) and, in turn, extended the longest win streak to 13 matches after the team's win over Illinois State in the first round of the NCAA Championship. Unfortunately, the streak was snapped in the second round of the tournament by eventual national champion and No. 2 seed Kentucky.
During the Fall 2021 season, Sullivan helped the Rebels to the best single-season record in program history with 28 wins, including the 2021 NIVC title.Â
The Rebels led the MW in five statistical categories during the year, sitting atop the conference in aces per set, assists per set, hitting percentage, kills per set and winning percentage. Meanwhile, they were 32nd or better in all five of those, including sixth in hitting percentage (.298) and seventh in winning percentage (.929). Hayden led the country in aces per set and in service aces.
Sullivan became the fastest coach in program history to 50 wins - with a victory over San Jose State on March 19, 2021 - doing so in only 73 tries. Her 42 combined victories during the 2018 and 2019 seasons were the most in that time frame for any head coach at UNLV. Additionally, those 22- and 20-win totals from years one and two, respectively, matched the most 20-win seasons by a Rebel head coach, tying Allison Keeley (2004-10) and Cindy Frederick (2011-17).
In Sullivan's first season at the helm of the Rebel program, she led the Scarlet & Gray to an overall record of 22-12 and a fifth-place finish (10-8) in the Mountain West. The team earned an at-large berth in the NIVC and advanced to the semifinals after it defeated UC Irvine, Fresno State and Portland. Coincidentally, the final match of the year took place against her old squad, the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames, Iowa.
Delving deeper, those 22 wins in 2018 helped UNLV post a plus-14-win differential from the previous season’s eight-win haul, which marked the largest improvement by an NCAA Division squad that season.
The Rebels concluded the year ranked in the top 100 of eight different NCAA statistical categories, such as: first in aces (251), third in aces per set (1.93), 38th in team kills (1,655), 61st in team assists (1,526), 66th in hitting percentage (.235), 67th in team total attacks (4,369), 80th in winning percentage (.647) and 99th in team digs (1,827).
Individually, Hayden led the NCAA in aces (114) and aces per set (0.90) and finished the year second overall in points (690.0), fifth in points per set (5.43) and 10th in total kills (543). Hayden's 114 aces were not only a UNLV single-season record, but they were the third most recorded by an NCAA student-athlete since the 25-point scoring format was adopted in 2008.
Sullivan earned her first career win against Southern Utah, a 3-0 sweep of the Thunderbirds, during the season-opening UNLV Invitational on Aug. 24. With the addition of 21 more triumphs, she became the second-winningest first-year coach in program history with 22.
In 2019, UNLV began the season slowly with a 4-9 showing before it turned things around with a nine-match win streak that evolved into a run of 16 wins in 18 contests to finish to the campaign. In all, the Rebels went 20-11 overall and finished third in the MW behind a 15-3 mark.
After opening the conference portion of the season with a pair of losses to Wyoming and then-No. 17 Colorado State, UNLV began 16-2 stretch with a 3-1 win at San Diego State, which was the catalyst to rewriting four single-season records: 15 conference wins, eight conference wins, eight-match road win streak and eight-match conference road win streak.
Statistically speaking, UNLV was ranked in the top 100 nine times: second in aces (241), fifth in aces per set (1.88), 21st in team kills (1,688) and team assists (1,568), 52nd in team total attacks (4,358), 71st in hitting percentage (.233), 79th in winning percentage (.645), 83rd in assists per set (12.25) and 85th in kills per set (13.19).
Once again, Hayden excelled under Sullivan’s tutelage, finishing the 2019 campaign first in aces per set (0.69), third in service aces (70), 39th in points per set (4.70), 78th in kills per set (3.76) and 80th in points (479.5) despite missing time due to an injury.
Working under head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch at ISU since 2005, Sullivan helped lead the Cyclone program to a 268-130 (.673) record, which included 12 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. ISU advanced to the regional semifinals five times and has made two regional finals during that time. During that 12-year span, the Cyclones were one of only 11 NCAA Division I programs to participate in the postseason in each season.
Sullivan joined Johnson-Lynch's first-year staff with a focus on mentoring the outside hitters. She was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2012 season and served in that role for seven years.Â
The coaching duo immediately made an impact upon its arrival in Ames as the program upped its win total by eight (to 16) during her first season. That team also finished five spots higher in the Big 12 standings (11th to sixth) from the previous season. One year later, the squad went 21-11 overall and 12-8 in Big 12 play (fourth place) en route to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995.
With Sullivan on staff, ISU volleyball posted 16 or more wins each season, including 12 straight with a minimum of 18 victories. The 2006 season marked the first of seven with 20 or more wins. In 2009, the Cyclones recorded program bests in overall wins with 27, conference victories with 17 and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
From 1996 to 2004, before Johnson-Lynch and Sullivan were with the program, the Cyclones went 13-167 overall with seven last-place finishes in nine seasons in Big 12 competition. Since 2005, ISU has gone 152-80 in league play with 12 straight double-digit winning seasons. ISU has finished second or third in conference play in each of the past nine seasons.
The Cyclones had 13 student-athletes earn AVCA All-America honors 23 times, while 16 were recognized as AVCA All-Region performers 27 times. ISU has had 30 student-athletes named to the All-Big 12 Team 38 times. Academically, the team placed 56 student-athletes on Academic All-Big 12 teams, which included a program-record 10 honorees in 2011.
Sullivan began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Illinois State University in 2002 and helped the Redbirds boost their win total from 14 to 19 to 22 before leaving for Iowa State.
Sullivan played at Kansas State University from 1996-99 and led the Wildcats to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances behind a total of 1,611 kills and 1,258 digs, which rank as the third and fourth-most, respectively, in program history. She is one of only five KSU players to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
As a senior, she served as a team captain and was later named an All-American and to the All-Big 12 Team. She also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors in each of her four years. Following graduation, Sullivan played professionally for the Grand Rapids Force of the United States Professional Volleyball League.
Sullivan and her husband, Josh, have three daughters (Katie, Sarah and Emily) and one son (Matthew).
