Latonia Allen hired as Huntingdon volleyball coach

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon athletic director Mike Turk officially announced the hiring of Latonia Allen as head volleyball coach on Tuesday.

Allen comes to Huntingdon from Emmanuel College and has been a head coach at the Division II level and in the National Christian College Athletic Association.

"I want to thank President J. Cameron West and Coach Turk for this opportunity," Allen said. "Everything has happened so quickly, but throughout this process it has been clear to me how much the administration values this athletic department and its coaches and I'm excited to be a part of it."

Turk said Allen's experience and background caught his eye during the coaching search.

"Her credentials and background are solid. She has experience and has had success at the small college level," Turk said. "Her knowledge of the game is impressive and her coaching philosophy seems to be a good fit for Huntingdon. I'm excited to see her get started and go to work."

Allen will meet with her team for the first time when school resumes later this month.

"I'm looking forward to our first team meeting," Allen said. "I want to meet with the girls and hear their expectations and goals for the program and I want to share my thoughts on what we need to do to take the program to another level.

"I want to create a vision for where we want to be in the fall. The spring season is limited, but I want to ignite a fire now that motivates us to work through the offseason and be on the same page when we come back in August."

During the 2014 season, Allen helped the fourth-year Emmanuel program transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. The Lions were 12-16 in their first season of Division II and led the Conference Carolinas in blocks per set and were second in total blocks. Five of Allen's players were named Academic All-Conference.

Prior to Emmanuel, Allen served as head volleyball coach, head athletic trainer and adjunct professor at Tennessee Temple. She also served as the NCCAA Mid-East Region Chair.

Allen began her coaching career at Division II Davis & Elkins College. Coming off of an eight-win season in 2007, Allen helped lead the Senators to back-to-back 20-win seasons. She led her team to a pair of first-round victories in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, including the first conference tournament win in program history.

Allen earned her M.S. in athletic training at California University of Pennsylvania and her B.S. in athletic training at Alderson Broaddus College. At Alderson Broaddus, she was a two-time All-Region performer, four-time All-Conference selection, conference Freshman of the Year and conference Player of the Year.