Hillary Hurley - Volleyball Coach - University of Utah Athletics

Hillary Hurley

Title:
Women's Volleyball Assistant Coach
Email:
hhurley@huntsman.utah.edu

Hillary Hurley enters her first season with the Utes in 2026 as an assistant coach for Utah Women's Volleyball.

Hurley comes to Salt Lake City after spending two seasons as an assistant coach for Pepperdine (2024-25) with additional stints at West Virginia State and the University of Charleston. Before jumping into collegiate coaching, Hurley spent 10 seasons playing professionally all over the world with stops in Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the Philippines.

Hurley's primary responsibilities at Utah include training the pin players, working with fellow assistant coach Wil Stanley on the offensive game plan for scout prep and in match, and will take over as the team's Academic Liaison. Additionally, Hurley will have a hand in recruiting, team connection/culture building as well as the volleyball performance team.

During her time at Pepperdine, the Waves went 17-11 (2024) with a third-place finish in the West Coast Conference standings and 21-8 (2025) with a second-place finish in conference play. Through Hurley's two seasons in Malibu, nine players made All-WCC Teams.

In 2023, Hurley helped WVSU to its third Mountain East Conference South Division regular season title going 14-1 during the regular season and their second appearance in the finals of the conference tournament in school history. The Yellow Jackets advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships – a feat that had been achieved four times in program history, ending the year with an impressive 26-6 overall record. Four of her players earned All-MEC honors while Hurley earned MEC Coach of the Year.

While at the University of Charleston, Hurley played an integral role on the Golden Eagles' staff during their 2022 season where the program went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2007 and won their first-round match for the first time since 1998.

Through Hurley's four seasons coaching collegiate volleyball, she has coached 13 total all-conference selections, 1 AVCA All-Region selection, won one conference championship, guided two teams to the NCAA Tournament, and won one Coach of the Year honor.

Hurley was a two-sport athlete in college, playing volleyball and basketball for the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. There she garnered All-PacWest first team honors in both sports (three in volleyball, two in basketball) and was a two-time AVCA All-American selection with a first team nod as a senior and second team nod as a junior. During her senior year, Hurley earned Daktronics All-West Region first team honors and as a junior, she was named the PacWest Player of the Year and earned Daktronics All-West Region second team honors. In Hurley's first season of collegiate play, she earned AVCA Pacific Region and PacWest Freshman of the Year.

Hurley graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology. Hurley is married to Luke Reynolds, who resides as Pepperdine's men's volleyball associate head coach.

HURLEY'S LIST OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2021-22: German Bundesliga outside hitter for Schwarz WeiB Erfurt
2019-20: Polish Tauron Liga outside hitter for Energa MKS Kalisz
2018-19: Volley Soverato Italy A2 (finished as one of the league's top scorers)
2017-18: PSL- Phillippines SuperLiga (earned Best Outside Hitter Award during Finals)
2016-17: Finish League top scorer (had contract bought out by Korean league mid-season), moved to HIPASS KOVO League
2015-16: Viteos NUC (Swiss League Top Scorer Award)- made it to the top 16 in CEV CUP
2014-15: Finnish League (Best Attacker Award)- Bought out for Playoffs in Puerto Rico (made finals)
2012-14: Top scorer in Swedish Elite Series for 2 seasons