Alverno College

Shannon Allen joins the Alverno College athletics staff as Head Volleyball Coach, and is now in her second in the fall of 2022.

During her first season with the team, she helped lead the shortened Inferno lineup. During the season, senior Alex McMath became the fourth student-athlete in program history to record 1,000 career assists, while newcomer Rolin West set the program record for kills in a match with 28, while also appearing on the top-10 list of single-match kills on several occasions. 

Allen comes to Alverno with four years of collegiate head coaching experience at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, a position she has held since August of 2017. While leading the Blue Bears, Allen was responsible for all everyday aspects of the program, while leading the team to 28 victories over her three seasons on the court, as the team's 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Prior to her years at Livingston as head coach, the Ridgeway, North Carolina native, coached the Jammers Volleyball Club from October 2015 to May 2017, while serving as co-head coach and also assistant coach with several teams through her tenure with the Jammers.
 
A two-year stint at Hillside High School preceded her tenure with the Jammers, while she also coached volleyball at Ben L. Smith High School for two seasons as well. She began her coaching path at Southern Vance High School, where she spent a pair of years as a volleyball coach and also as the assistant to the athletic director.
 
While coaching, Allen has simultaneously held the position of social studies teacher since July of 2015, where she teaches at Hillside High School, primarily focused on grades 10-12. She also had a summer stint at Yale University in Connecticut as an office manager as part of the Summer Institute for the Gifted program, while also working in a behavior support specialist while coaching at Smith High School.
 
Allen graduated from Livingstone, where she was a four-year student-athlete for the Blue Bears from the 2007-10 seasons. While there she served as both an outside hitter and a setter, amassing 479 kills, and 1,888 assists to go along with 646 digs, 167 service aces, and 74 blocks over 109 career matches played. She earned her degree in Social Work in May of 2011.
 
Additionally, Allen obtained her master's degree in legal studies, specifically focusing on NCAA Compliance and Sports Law in December of 2019.