University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Volleyball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- abby.gilleland@uconn.edu
Abby Gilleland completed her third season as an assistant coach with the Huskies in 2021.
"We are extremely excited and lucky to add Abby to the staff and to our program. I am confident that she will have a positive impact on our student-athletes. Her contagious personality, successful playing background, and her relentless work ethic will not only add to our program dynamic, but also help us get to the next level.”
—Head Coach Ellen Herman-Kimball
“I could not be more excited and thankful for this opportunity to join Ellen, Matt and the rest of the Husky Volleyball family. The moment I stepped on campus it was evident that this is a very special University and a program with a solid foundation to achieve even greater successes in the future. I look forward to working with our staff and student-athletes to do just that. Go Huskies!”
—Abby Gilleland
Gilleland helped guide the Huskies to one of their best seasons in recent memory, as they went 24-11 overall with a 13-5 mark in BIG EAST contests. The 13 BIG EAST victories were UConn's most in program history, while its 24 total wins were its most since the 1995 campaign. Furthermore, the Huskies defeated a ranked opponent for the first time in taking down No. 19 Creighton in five sets.
The Huskies continued their historic season in the postseason, making their second straight trip to the BIG EAST Championship, and made their first NIVC appearance since 1994. UConn hosted a postseason match in Gampel Pavilion for the first time, where it defeated North Florida in four sets to advance to the NIVC Final Four.
Gilleland played a key role in guiding McKayla Wuensch to be named the program's first BIG EAST Setter of the Year. Wuensch ranked second in the conference in assists per set (9.65) and upper her average to 10.20 in conference matches.
Prior to arriving at UConn, Gilleland served as an assistant coach the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga since 2017. Gilleland helped coach two Southern Conference All-Freshman selections, four SoCon Player of the Week selections, as well as a pair of All-SoCon Second Team honorees. Gilleland worked with the Mocs’ setters, overall offense, recruiting, in-match strategies, operations planning, and served as the academic liaison. During her time, the team posted a 3.5 GPA or higher all four semesters, nabbed 14 Academic All-SoCon selections in 2017-2018, with a student-athlete earning Google Cloud Academic All-District Team honors in 2018.
Prior to her time at UTC, Gilleland served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at The College of William & Mary. While there, her duties included organization of and follow through with the recruiting process, overall operations, as well as training setters. She coached a pair of student-athletes to the 2016 All-CAA Third Team and All-CAA Rookie Team.
Gilleland has also coached several camps in addition to two club teams over the years.
A 2016 graduate of Ohio University, Gilleland was the setter and team captain for the Bobcats, who posted a 93-33 overall record and went 57-7 in the Mid-American Conference matches during her time. She ranks third in Ohio's record book for total assists (4,702), ranks second in assists per (10.45), and third in hitting percentage (.310).
Individually she garnered various honors such as Mid-American Conference All-Freshman selection, Tournament MVP, and AVCA All-Mideast Region. Gilleland is also a two-time All-American honorable mention, conference player of the year, setter of the year, AVCA All-Northeast Region, and NCAA Tournament qualifier. She has been selected to the All-MAC First Team and Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athlete on several occasions. Her other accolades include being named the Mid-American Conference 2016 NCAA Women of the Year nominee and receiving the conference Medal of Excellence.
Gilleland is currently pursuing her master’s degree in business administration from UTC. She obtained her bachelor of science in sports sciences from Ohio.
