INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University Athletic Director Nate Burton announced Hillary Hurley as the Head Volleyball Coach on Tuesday afternoon. Hurley was a professional volleyball player for ten years before joining the coaching ranks at the University of Charleston.

"I'm pleased to announce Hillary Hurley as our new Head Volleyball Coach and am confident in her abilities to lead this incredible program at State forward," said Burton. "She checked all the boxes that we were looking for in our next head coach and we cannot wait for her to get started.

"Her years of dedication to the sport combined with her passion and commitment to the personal growth and development of student-athletes made her the ideal candidate for this position. Her success as a student-athlete and coach as well as her experience playing at the sport's highest level will be a great benefit to our current and future Yellow Jackets."

"I am so excited to be starting the next chapter of my coaching career at West Virginia State University," remarked Hurley. "There is such a talented group of players on this team and I'm looking forward to bringing my personality and energy to the program.

"My goal is to create a competitive and empowering environment where each individual player can thrive both on and off the court. I can't wait to help them all develop personally and compete for a championship together."

Most recently, Hurley was named the Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach at Charleston ahead of the Golden Eagles' historic 2022 season. She was an integral part of the coaching staff that led UC to a flurry of firsts in a long time. Last year, Charleston hosted the MEC Tournament for the first time since joining the league in 2013, advanced to the MEC Tournament finals for the first time since 2018, qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 and won a NCAA Tournament match for the first time since 1998. 

Prior to joining the coaching staff at UC, Hurley spent ten years as a professional volleyball player at top clubs all over the world. She played in some of the most competitive European leagues in Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, Poland and Germany. She also made stops in Puerto Rico, South Korea and the Philippines during her professional playing career.

Hurley was a two-sport athlete at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo before she began her nomadic professional journey. She garnered First Team All-PacWest honors in both volleyball and basketball at Hilo. In volleyball, she was named the PacWest Freshman of the Year and AVCA Pacific Region Freshman of the Year. Her junior year, Hurley was dubbed the outright PacWest Player of the Year and gained Second Team All-American status. She then went on to earn First Team All-Region and First Team All-American honors after her senior campaign in which she led the nation in kills per set.

Hurley is originally from Redding, Calif. where she was first a standout volleyball and basketball player at Enterprise High School. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from the University of Hawaii-Hilo and is pursuing a Master's degree in Strategic Leadership at the University of Charleston. 

Hurley is married to Luke Reynolds, the Head Men's Volleyball Coach at UC, who shares her passion for volleyball and spent as many years coaching volleyball across the globe as she did playing professionally. They cherish their time spent with their dog Bear when away from the volleyball court.