UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley announced on Tuesday the addition of Tina Readling as the director of operations on the women's volleyball staff. Readling comes to Happy Valley after spending 10 seasons on the staff at Elon, including the past seven as the associate head coach.
"We are very excited to welcome Tina and her husband Josh to Happy Valley," Schumacher-Cawley said. "Tina has an extensive background in volleyball, and she is very passionate about making an impact. Her organizational skills, attention to details, and the love of the sport and student-athletes became very apparent during the interview process. Tina will be a tremendous asset to our program. I am happy she is joining the Penn State Volleyball family."
Elon won 128 matches during Readling's time on the coaching staff. Most recently, she helped the Phoenix turn in one of the best seasons in program history. After going a program-best 11-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association regular season, the Phoenix advanced to the championship match of the conference tournament with a win over Hofstra in the semifinal round. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead over top-seeded Towson in what was the program's first-ever championship match in a conference tournament, before coming up just short in a 3-2 defeat.
Elon racked up awards last season. Haylie Clark was named the CAA Setter of the Year and was one of three Phoenix players to earn All-CAA honors, while Mary Tendler represented the Phoenix staff as Coach of the Year.
Readling had numerous responsibilities during her time at Elon, including six seasons as the recruiting coordinator, seven as the offensive coordinator and all 10 as the serving coach. As associate head coach, she helped Elon achieve numerous firsts, including its first AVCA honorable-mention All-American, first AVCA All-Region selection, first Conference Player of the Year, and first Conference Rookie of the Year. The team totaled 10 All-CAA postseason honors during that stretch and added multiple academic accolades.
Readling's collegiate coaching career began as a volunteer assistant at Elon in 2010, when she helped the Phoenix win the SoCon North Division regular season title. She then took a volunteer assistant position at Duke in 2011 and helped the Blue Devils advance to the NCAA Tournament. She returned to Elon as an assistant coach the following season.
Prior to her first role with the Phoenix, she worked as an assistant coach and lead clinician at Carolina Region High Performance. Readling assisted the Carolina Region High Performance Youth Team, which represented the Carolina region in three different National High Performance Championships.
Readling worked on the other side of recruiting as a club coach for seven years at Piedmont and Alamance Force Volleyball Clubs. While at Alamance Force from 2005-08, she coached the 17s and 18s teams and served as the assistant club director the last two years. Readling moved to Piedmont Volleyball Club in 2008 where she worked under director Blaine Tendler, the 2010 USAV National Junior Clinician of the Year and current Division I assistant coach. She worked with multiple age groups from 14s to 18s.
For four years, Readling worked as the assistant volleyball director at the Greensboro Sportsplex, one of the largest multisport facilities in the Southeast. In this role, she assisted with the operations of Sportsplex Volleyball Club and the youth development programs. Readling also directed all adult volleyball programming including Greensboro Grass Volleyball tournaments.
Before working at the Sportsplex, Readling taught English and coached at Alamance Christian School in Graham, N.C., for 10 years. She graduated from Bryan College with a bachelor's degree in English education in 1999. Readling was named the Female Athlete of the Year at Bryan following her senior season with the volleyball team.
