C-SC names Alejandro-Rivera as new women’s volleyball coach

CANTON, Mo. — Culver-Stockton College’s search for a women’s volleyball coach ended with the hiring of Audrye Alejandro-Rivera.

Alejandro-Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico, spent last season as an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Polk State College, an NJCAA school in Winter Haven, Fla. He helped guide the Eagles to a 14-10 overall record and a third place finish in the Florida College System Activities Association.

“We are very pleased that Audrye has accepted our head women’s volleyball coaching position,” C-SC athletic director Pat Atwell said. “During the interview process he displayed a passion for providing a quality student-athlete experience which is a key department goal of ours.”

Prior to coming to Polk, Alejandro-Rivera spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Warner University, an NAIA school in Lake Wales. Fla. — two with the men’s program and one with the women’s program. In 2023, he was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Men’s Assistant of the Year as the Royals went undefeated in conference play and claimed the regular season championship.

Alejandro-Rivera worked with the women’s volleyball team at Elms College for one year as an assistant coach. He has also coached at the Toreros Volleyball Academy in Orlando, Fla., and the Top Selected Volleyball Academy in Maitland, Fla.

“Audrye has knowledge of the NAIA and has many recruiting contacts that will serve him well as he brings young women to Culver-Stockton College,” Atwell said. “We have a tradition of giving head coaches their first shot and Audrye is another example of that. He is excited to get going with the 2024-25 Wildcat women’s volleyball program and we are excited to watch him and the team perform.”

A libero, Alejandro-Rivera began his college playing career at Elms College, an NCAA Division III school in Chicopee, Mass. As a freshman in 2017, he finished with the second-most digs in a season in program history and was named the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Libero of the Year and the NECC Defensive Player of the Year.

Alejandro-Rivera spent three years at Elms, helping the Blazers reach the conference championship match three times, winning it in 2018 to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth. In 2019, Alejandro-Rivera helped Elms College finish with its best record ever at 29-5.

A two-time NECC All-Academic selection, Alejandro-Rivera spent a season with the professional team Los Tiburones in Puerto Rico before concluding his playing career at Warner in 2021 where he was named Mid-South Conference honorable mention and an all-academic team selection.

The Wildcats, who are coming off a 5-24 campaign, are scheduled to open their season August 17 against Waldorf.