Ashlee Pritchard

Ashlee Pritchard is the Women's Head Volleyball Coach at Marian University.

Head coach Ashlee Pritchard enters her 10th season at the helm of the MU volleyball program in 2021 after being named the program's third head coach on March 24, 2012.

Pritchard continued the Knights' success established over the last few seasons in 2020-21, leading the Knights an 18-5 record and to the NAIA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season while asserting the Knights as one of the top-15 teams in the NAIA.

Pritchard led Marian to a 10-2 record in Crossroads League play after going through challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, and had six Knights earn All-Crossroads League Team honor, including Skyler Van Note, who was named Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Van Note also earned First Team NAIA All-American honors for the second straight year, becoming Pritchard's first two-time First Team All-American.

After the 18-5 record in 2020-21, Pritchard improved her overall record at Marian to 187-100. With a 10-2 record in Crossroads League play, Pritchard is now 102-54 all-time in Crossroads League matches as the Knights head coach. Since the 2017 season, Marian has a combined record of 114-22 under Pritchard's leadership.

Pritchard led the team to a historic 2019 season, accomplishing several professional and personal milestones in her eighth season as the head coach of the Knights.

She led the team to a 38-2 overall record, setting a program best mark en route to winning the first NAIA National Championship in program history. Pritchard also guided Marian to their third straight Crossroads Leauge Regular Season Championship with a regular season record of 17-1, and reached the Crossroads League Tournament Championship for the second straight season. 2019 was the third straight season Marian has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament, by passing the opening round for the first time in the three year stretch.

After the 38-2 record in 2019, Pritchard improved her overall record at Marian to 169-95. With a 17-1 record in Crossroads League play, Pritchard is now 92-52 all-time in Crossroads League matches as the Knights head coach. Since the 2017 season, Marian has a combined record of 96-17 under Pritchard's leadership.

Marian defeated several ranked opponents on their way to winning the NAIA National Championship. During the regular season, they defeated (RV) St. Xavier, (RV) Trinity Christian, No. 16 Aquinas, (RV) St. Francis (Ind.), No. 3 Indiana Weselyan, and (RV) St. Francis (Ind.). In the NAIA National Tournament, they defeated No. 21 Embry-Riddle, (RV) Ottawa, No. 6 Viterbo, No. 5 Southern Oregon, No. 4 Missouri Baptist, No. 8 Jamestown, and (RV) Westmont in the NAIA Championship Game. The win over No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan is the highest ranked team that the Knights have defeated in program history.

In 2019 Ashlee Pritchard added to her awards collection as a coach, claiming the honor of being named the NAIA Coach of the Year. Pritchard was also named the NAIA All-Tournament Team Coach. In addition to the coaching accolades, Pritchard added to her family welcoming her second child, Drummond Lee, on October 1.

For the third straight season, Pritchard coached an NAIA All-American. In 2019, she guided Skyler Van Note to a First Team NAIA All-American Honor, and Sarah Spangler to a Honorable Mention Team All-American honor. Van Note is the first player in program history to be named to the first team All-American Team.

Pritchard and her staff coached five players to All-Crossroads League honors in 2019, including three players to make the first team. Of those on the first team, Skyler Van Note and Megan Hawley earned extra honors as Van Note was named the CL Player of the Year and Hawley was named the CL Libero of the Year. Marian also had three players named to the AVCA MidCentral Region Team.

Helped Marian to a national ranking of No. 11 prior to entering the NAIA National Tournament. In the final poll, Marian was ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history.

She led Marian to seven national rankings statistcally as a team in 2019, ranking fifth in the NAIA in assists with 1827, fifth in digs with 2753, sixth in kills with 1973, eighth in hitting percentage at .246, ninth in kills per set at 13.8, 11th in assists per set at 12.78, and 12th in digs per set at 19.25.

She finished the 2018 season with a 131-93 overall record as the Marian head coach, leading the team to their first 30-win season with a 30-7 record. The Knights won their second straight Crossroads League Regular Season Title after winning in 2017. Pritchard also guided the team to it's first ever Crossroads League Tournament Championship, taking the Knights to the NAIA National Tournament for the second time in school history.

After entering the 2017 season with a career record of 73-78, Pritchard has guided the Knights to a 58-15 mark over the past two seasons (2017-18).

Pritchard led the team to it's second straight NAIA Opening Round win, defeating Faulkner in three sets in the inagural volleyball match held in the newly renovated arena. She then followed that win with a 3-0 sweep over No. 8 Northwestern, defeating the first top-10 program in school history while winning the first ever match at the NAIA National Tournament Final Site.

In 2018 Pritchard added to her personal award collection, winning the Crossroads League Coach of the Year for the third straight season. She was also awarded the AVCA All Mid-Central Region Co-Coach of the Year, winning the honor for the second year in a row.

For the second straight season coached an NAIA All-American, as Sarah Spangler, Skyler Van Note, and Hannah Trout all were named to the Honorable Mention All-American Team in 2018.

In 2018 she coached five players five players to the All-Crossroads League Teams, coaching Sarah Spangler and Skyler Van Note to the All-Crossroads League Freshman Team. She also led three players to the NAIA AVCA All Mid-Central Region Team.

She finished the 2017 with a 101-86 overall record after leading Marian to 28-8 in 2017, guiding the Knights to the first Crossroads League Title since 1988. She led the Knights to a 16-2 conference record, including the programs first win against Indiana Wesleyan since 2010. She led the Knights to the Crossroads League Tournament for the fifth time in her six years, picking up her 100th win against Mt. Vernon in the Crossroads League Quarterfinal.

Pritchard led the team in 2017 to its first ever NAIA Tournament Appearance, picking up the first ever postseason win in the NAIA Opening Round against Xavier (La.).

Earned the 2017 Crossroads League and AVCA NAIA Mid-Central Region Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Coached the 2017 Crossroads League and AVCA NAIA Mid-Central Region Player of the Year in Kacee Salyers, as well as the 2017 Crossroads League and AVCA NAIA Mid-Central Region Libero of the Year in Vanessa Lay. Salyers also received NAIA All-American Third Team honors under Pritchard's supervision.

In 2017 she coached five players to the All-Crossroads League teams, as well as three to the AVCA NAIA Mid-Central Region team.

She finished the 2016 season with a 73-78 overall record after an 22-12 campaign in 2016 that saw MU finish 10-8 in league play. She has led MU to the Crossroads League Tournament in four out of her first five seasons.

Earned the 2016 Crossroads League and AVCA Midcentral Region Coach of the Year.

In 2016 she coached six Knights to all-league recognition, including Freshman of the Year Anne Strevels.

Pritchard guided McKenzie Mason and Lauren Gregory to All-Crossroads League Second Team honors in 2014. She has led eight Knights to all-league recognition in her first three seasons and has placed four student-athletes on the all-league first team.

She has coached 11 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes and guided Ashley Francis to AVCA All-America honorable mention as well as Tachikara All-America honorable mention in her first season.

She earned the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) "Thirty Under 30" award twice in her career.

Prior to taking the MU job in 2012, Pritchard, a Pendleton, Ind., native, spent 2009-12 as the assistant coach at Taylor University where she also served as assistant director of athletics for event management. She was a integral part of three Mid-Central College Conference championship teams that also earned berths in the NAIA National Volleyball Championship. In her three seasons as assistant coach, the Trojans were ranked in the NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Poll and had four student-athletes honored as NAIA All-Americans. The Trojans compiled a 103-24 record, including a 41-1 mark in the MCC, during her time at Taylor University alongside head coach Brittany Smith. In her position at Taylor University, she also served as the recruiting coordinator and focused on defensive specialist and libero training. She was also responsible for the strength and conditioning regiments of the program as well as the day-to-day program operations, including travel.

She had served as a coach for the Munciana Club volleyball program for four seasons prior to Marian at different age levels within the club. She served as an assistant coach for the 12-and-under team in 2009, was the head coach for the 16-and-under program from 2010-11 and was the head coach for the 17-and-under national team in 2012. She also served as coach for the Momentum Volleyball Club from 2006-08 in Upland, Ind., with the 14, 16 and 18 age groups.

Pritchard also has a wide array of volleyball camp experience. She has worked the Liberty Christian Summer Volleyball Camp and worked at the University of Notre Dame Summer Volleyball Camp in 2011. She also served as the top instructional assistant at the Trojan Select Volleyball Camp at Taylor University while an assistant there.

A graduate of Taylor University, Pritchard played volleyball for four years as a Trojan and served as team captain as a senior. As a defensive specialist, she accumulated 1,676 digs in 472 career sets to place her fourth on Taylor's all-time career digs per set list. She was part of back-to-back MCC championships during her final two seasons as a Trojan.

Pritchard graduated from Taylor with a bachelor's degree in exercise science with a minor in management in 2009 and earned a master's degree in sports administration from Liberty University. She and her husband, Nathan, reside in Indianapolis and welcomed their first child, Charlotte, on Thursday, June 11, 2015. On October 1, 2019, Ashlee and Nathan welcomed their second child, Drummond Lee.