Ashlee Crowder was named the fifth head coach in Florida Southern volleyball history in January of 2023. Crowder, who had previously served as an assistant coach at FSC from 2018-20, returned to Lakeland following two seasons as head coach at Florida Tech.
She took over the Florida Tech volleyball program in August of 2021, just weeks before the regular season was scheduled to begin. She guided the program through a difficult 2021 season and began the rebuilding process. Her 2022 roster featured six freshmen, one redshirt freshman, three sophomores, three juniors, a senior, and a graduate student. Just five of the student-athletes on the 2022 roster had seen action in a Florida Tech uniform in 2021. Crowder led the Panthers to their first double-digit win total since 2015 and tied for the most wins since 2013.
Crowder spent three seasons as an assistant coach at FSC before taking over the head position at Florida Tech. She joined the Mocs coaching staff ahead of the 2018 season and helped guide the team to a 2018 NCAA South Region Tournament appearance. She also helped the program navigate the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic before getting the call to take over the Florida Tech program prior to the 2021 season.
Prior to her time at Florida Southern, Crowder was the assistant volleyball coach at the University of Indianapolis from 2016-18. Similar to her role at FSC, Crowder served as the recruiting and summer camp coordinator at UIndy. The Greyhounds earned a record of 28-35 over her two seasons in Indianapolis. Crowder helped coach freshman Olivia Martin, who came four digs shy of breaking the program record with most digs by a rookie in 2017. She also played a major role in the development of several key contributors, including many underclassmen like Anna Fehribach and Rachel Irbe, who led the team in kills.
Before heading to Indianapolis, Crowder spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Grand Valley State, where she helped the Lakers advance to two consecutive NCAA Tournaments. She was on the coaching staff in 2014 when GVSU went 27-6 overall, captured the Midwest Region Championship by sweeping all three opponents, and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Louisville, Ky.
Crowder has also had success on the club volleyball circuit, leading the Michigan Volleyball Academy, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., to a pair of nearly undefeated seasons in 2012-13 (15-1) and 2015-16 (13-1). Additionally, she coached the Dead Frog Far Out Volleyball team in 2013-14, Team Indiana in 2016-17 and most recently served as Assistant Club Director of the Southern Select Volleyball Club from 2018-20.
An outside hitter herself, Crowder had a very decorated playing career at Hillsdale College. She continues to be Hillsdale's career leader in kills (1,703) and her 491 kills in 2009 are the third-highest single-season total in Charger history. Crowder was twice named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Daktronics Midwest Region Player of the Year in 2011. Additionally, she was a three-time AVCA All-American, including consecutive First Team All-America honors in 2010 and 2011. In 2018, Crowder was inducted into the Hillsdale College Athletics Hall of Fame.
A 2012 graduate of Hillsdale, Crowder earned her degree in physical education. She is also currently finishing her master's degree in special education from Grand Valley State.
Ruben Lopez was named assistant coach for the Florida Southern volleyball program in January of 2023. Lopez most recently served as an assistant coach at Florida Tech for one season under head coach Ashlee Crowder. In just one season at Florida Tech, Lopez helped the Panthers to their first double-digit season win total since 2015 and the most victories in a season since 2013.
Prior to Florida Tech, Lopez served as an assistant coach at the University of Charleston for two seasons. As assistant coach at Charleston, Lopez was responsible for overseeing game day administration tasks while spending focused time coaching the passers and hitters on the team. He also took the lead on monitoring academic progress. Over his two years with the Golden Eagles, he helped turn around the program to its best winning percentage since 2011 as UC finished with an overall record of 22-12 and a 12-6 mark in MEC play.
A successful collegiate athlete himself, Lopez was a two-year member of the Aquinas College men’s volleyball team in Grand Rapids, Mich. While at Aquinas, he led the inaugural team to the NAIA national championship and was named to the All-Tournament team in 2018-19.
Prior to his time at Aquinas, he spent two years playing for the Irvine Valley College Lasers where he earned First Team All-OEC honors.
Additionally, in his off time in California, Lopez used to assist the USA Women’s Volleyball National Team in their training.
Lopez, a native of Winter Springs, Fla., graduated from Aquinas College in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management.
Florida Southern College alumna Makena Wilson ’20 was named the second Beach Volleyball Head Coach in program history in June of 2022. Wilson spent two seasons as a member of both the indoor and beach volleyball programs at Florida Southern before moving into the coaching field as a student assistant for the Mocs beach volleyball program for the 2019-20 school year.
Following her graduation from FSC, Wilson accepted a position as a graduate assistant coach at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan. where she spent the past two seasons with both the indoor and beach programs. She helped the Braves indoor program to two Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) regular season and conference championships and two NAIA National Tournament appearances. Wilson was named the 2022 Tri-State Conference Coach of the Year in Beach and coached the pair of the year, two first team pairs, one second team pair, and one third team pair.
Wilson was also involved with the MAVS club volleyball program, serving as an assistant with the 13-1 select team and as head coach of the 14-1 select team. The 13-1 select team placed in every tournament in 2020-21. In 2021-22, the 14-1 select team placed in every tournament the team participated in.
As a student-athlete at FSC, she helped the indoor team to a 2017 NCAA Division II National Runner-up finish, a Sunshine State Conference Championship, and an NCAA South Regional Championship. Wilson was a member of the inaugural FSC beach volleyball team in 2018 and was named the 2019 MVP.
While at Grossmont College, she helped the Griffins to back-to-back PCAC Championships in 2015 and 2016 and a third-place finish at the 2016 State Tournament. In beach, Wilson led GC to conference, South Regional, and State Championship titles.
Wilson earned her Master of Arts in leadership from Ottawa University in May of 2022. She received her Bachelor of Arts in history from Florida Southern in 2020. Prior to FSC, Wilson earned an Associate of Arts degree from Grossmont College in 2017.