Alabama State University Women's Volleyball

Penny Lucas-White, a former United States of America national player, completed her 14th season as the head volleyball coach at Alabama State University in the 2024-25 calendar year. and needs just three more victories to reach 250 career wins with the Hornets. She enters the season having coached 1,000 matches during her career. Lucas-White holds a career coaching record at Alabama State of 247 - 223 in 14 seasons (2011-present) and 439 - 605 overall as an NCAA Division I college coach (32 seasons). During her tenure, the Lady Hornets have won six Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) tournament championships, including 2017 when the team finished off a perfect 18-0 run through the conference and a trip to the NCAA Regionals. At one point, the Lady Hornets reeled off 42 consecutive conference victories. Last season, the Lady Hornets captured the regular season crown with a 15-1 mark (2022) before participating in the NIV Postseason Tournament for the first time. In 2023, White led Alabama State to the first undefeated season in conference play since the Lady Hornets went back-to-back years of 18-0 in 2016 and 2017. The regular season championship is the second consecutive for the Lady Hornets, earning the top seed for the tournament for the second consecutive year, while the undefeated run is the first since the 2021 COVID-shortened season for any conference school, a season in which Alabama State did not participate. White has coached several milestones in 2023 including Madison Beasley (2,000-plus assists), Jylen Whitten (1,000 kills), Temperance Chatman (850 digs), A’Nylah Cobb (500 kills), and Taila Gaines (500 kills). She also coached the Player of the Year - Rhodes - and the Setter of the Year - Beasley. In the 2018 campaign, Lucas-White led the team to its third consecutive SWAC Conference Championship while landing three athletes on the All-SWAC First Team (Candace Martin, Bayle' Bennett and Kori Kutsch) including guiding Candace Martin to earn Co-SWAC Player of the Year.  The Lady Hornets won 20-plus matches in five of the six seasons prior to 2020, including a high of 28 en route to the conference championship in 2017. Lucas-White and the Lady Hornets placed six players on the All-SWAC teams in 2016, while finishing undefeated for the first time in conference play under Lucas-White. Not only did the Lady Hornets place six players on the all-conference team, they also won four of the major conference awards. Jamie Coleman was named the Libero of the Year (First Team All-SWAC), Justus Tuiolosega was named Setter of the Year (First Team All-SWAC), Ni’yesha Brown the Newcomer of the Year (First Team All-SWAC) and Bayle Bennett the Freshman of the Year (Second Team). Briana Dorsey and Krysta Medearis were named to the all-conference teams for the Lady Hornets to round out the selections.   In 2015, Alabama State finished 24-9 overall, the second-most wins under their current head coach for the Lady Hornets and recorded the most conference wins under Lucas-White. The conference title was the third under Lucas-White for the Lady Hornets, as Alabama State claimed conference crowns in 2013 and 2014 and has made the last five conference championship matches. Prior to winning the conference title in 2013, Lucas-White led the Lady Hornets to consecutive third-place finishes in the always-tough SWAC Eastern Division. In 2012, the Lady Hornets finished third at the SWAC Tournament. Lucas-White took over an Alabama State volleyball program that was struggling at the time. She came into the program and immediately made improvements, combining to win 24 games her first two seasons - which included 15 wins in her first. Although the team struggled in 2012, the Lady Hornets made a 16-match improvement to finish 25-16 in 2013 and capture the first of the conference championships under Lucas-White. The Lady Hornets’ mentor draws her coaching expertise from an impressive playing career at the collegiate, national and international levels, as well as coaching some of the top scholar-athletes in the nation.   During her tenure at the helm of the Lady Hornets, Lucas-White has upgraded the non-conference schedule to include trips against some of the top teams in the country. In 2016, Alabama State traveled out west to take on Arizona, Pepperdine and SMU. In 2015, the team played a pair of highly ranked regional opponents (Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the University of Central Arkansas Tournament on Sept. 18 and at Alabama on Sept. 29). In 2014, the team again traveled out west to the University of Arizona to play Arizona, Cal-State Northridge and Loyola-Chicago as well as to Fort Myers (Fla.), to compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament against host Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Atlantic University and Missouri-Kansas City. The team also hosted two ISTAP Collegiate Cups at Lockhart Gymnasium and the Dunn-Oliver Acadome against top competition such as Tennessee Martin, Murray State, The Citadel, Southeast Missouri State, Southern Mississippi, and the University of Alabama.   Lucas-White has always emphasized work in the classroom and that has not changed since she arrived on the ASU campus. Following the 2012-13 season, the volleyball team received the Large Team Academic Award at the ASU Athletic Banquet based on the overall team grade point average. One of her crowning achievements happened when she and her assistants were chosen by the State Department to be special envoys to China’s Sichuan Province.  It was an area that had been devastated by an earthquake.  The coaching staff was part of a sports delegation that went into Chengdu, China to hold volleyball clinics for the children from the devastated area. Prior to Alabama State, Lucas-White has left her mark in several other programs. As head coach at Memphis, Lucas-White led the program to back-to-back Great Midwest Conference titles in 1993 and 1994, earning Coach of the Year honors both seasons. Her Lady Tiger squads maintained a 3.0 team GPA during her tenure at Memphis. Lucas-White took the reins at Air Force Academy in 1996, the school’s first season competing in Division I in the highly competitive Western Athletic Conference (now known as the Mountain West Conference). A total of 18 cadet-athletes earned academic All-Mountain West Conference honors, including one Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Among her community involvement, Lucas-White has been an active member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. In 2003, she helped the AVCA receive an NCAA minority coaches grant for a program entitled “Volleyball: Live it! Love it! Coach It!” Lucas-White completed her collegiate career at LSU where she earned first-team All-SEC honors, as well as the MVP award, in her first season playing. After a three-year career, she left college to begin her professional playing career domestically in the United States Volleyball League and internationally in Italy and Germany.  Lucas-White earned the honor of playing on the United States National Volleyball Team in the 1985 NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean) Games, competing against the best players in the world. While competing professionally in the United States and Europe, Lucas-White began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Auburn from 1987-89.   CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS Has spent 32 seasons as a coach (Memphis 1991-96, Air Force Academy 1996-2010, Alabama State 2011-present) Four-time conference Coach of the Year (1993-94 at Memphis; 2014, 2016 at Alabama State) Eight-time conference champion (SWAC 2013-14 & 2016-19, Great Midwest Conference 1993-94) Has won at least 20 games a season since the 2013 campaign, up until the 2019 campaign Led Alabama State to its first SWAC Championship title in program history by defeating Alabama A&M in five sets on Nov. 24, 2013; Qualified for its first NCAA Tournament appearance Her 2014 Lady Hornets earned the most selections of any conference member on the All-SWAC team Played collegiate volleyball at LSU (1980-83), and as a professional both domestically and internationally (1984-91, 1997) Played as a member of the USA National Volleyball Team (1985-86) Has coached athletes that earned MIT, Rhodes and Alberta Bart Holaday Scholarships CAREER RECORD (according to NCAA) Year School     Record Post    Conference Finish 1991 Memphis 20-15 - 3-1 - 1992 Memphis 10-26 - 2-8 - 1993 Memphis 25-11 - 10-1 - 1994 Memphis 27-8 NCAA 1st 12-0 1st 1995 Memphis 13-20 - 6-6 - 1996 Air Force 4-23 - - - 1997 Air Force 5-28 - - - 1998 Air Force 9-17 - - - 1999 Air Force 17-12 - - - 2000 Air Force 6-21 - - - 2001 Air Force 2-21 - - - 2002 Air Force 8-22 - - - 2003 Air Force 14-15 - - - 2004 Air Force 4-21 - - - 2005 Air Force 5-28 - - - 2006 Air Force 3-25 - - - 2007 Air Force 7-24 - - - 2008 AIr Force 5-24 - - - 2009 Air Force 8-21 - - - 2011 Alabama State 15-22 - 4-4 - 2012 Alabama State 9-27 - 3-5 - 2013 Alabama State 25-16 NCAA 1st 8-0 1st 2014 Alabama State 20-19 NCAA 1st 8-0 1st 2015 Alabama State 21-15 - 6-2 2nd 2016 Alabama State 24-9 NCAA 1st 18-0 1st 2017 Alabama State 28-11 NCAA 1st 18-0 1st 2018 Alabama State 23-18 NCAA 1st 16-2 1st 2019 Alabama State 17-22 NCAA 1st 11-7 1st 2020 Alabama State COVID - - - 2021 Alabama State 16-17 - 12-4 t-3rd 2022 Alabama State 20-15 NIV 1st 15-1 2nd 2023 Alabama State 18-13 - 16-0 t-3rd 2024 Alabama State 11-19 - 8-8 t-6th Totals 32 seasons 439-605 - - - at Memphis 95-80 33-15 at Air Force 97-302 - at Alabama State 247-223 143-33    

Clark has offered her specialized knowledge of the setter position and has worked heavily in the recruiting process and organization of team affairs.   Clark has been present on the bench for back-to-back successful campaigns as the Lady Hornets have won 41 matches and have made two SWAC championship appearances (one championship won) under her tutelege.   Prior to ASU, the Tallahassee, Fla. native spent the previous three years as assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach at Leon High School. She has expanded her coaching experience as a camp instructor over the past three summers. Clark was a decorated four-year volleyball letterman at Jackson State as a three-time team MVP, two-time All-SWAC performer and two-time All-SWAC Tournament performer. She helped lead the Lady Tigers to the 2011 SWAC Championship, the first in program history. Clark was selected as the Southwestern Athletic Conference Woman of the Year in 2012 and was the conference nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award for excellence in service, leadership, athletics, and academics. Clark graduated Magna Cum Laude from Jackson State with a bachelors degree in social work in 2012 and her Masters in social work from Florida State in 2013. LaToya Clark will be entering her third season as Alabama State assistant volleyball coach for the 2016-2017 academic year.   The 2015 campaign was her first season as the top assistant to coach Penny Lucas-White after serving as one of the two assistant coaching positions in 2014.   Nicknamed "Coach Toy",  Clark has offered her specialized knowledge of the setter position and has worked heavily in the recruiting process and organization of team affairs.   Clark has been present on the bench for back-to-back successful campaigns as the Lady Hornets have won 41 matches and have made two SWAC championship appearances (one championship won) under her tutelege.   Prior to ASU, the Tallahassee, Fla. native spent the previous three years as assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach at Leon High School. She has expanded her coaching experience as a camp instructor over the past three summers. Clark was a decorated four-year volleyball letterman at Jackson State as a three-time team MVP, two-time All-SWAC performer and two-time All-SWAC Tournament performer. She helped lead the Lady Tigers to the 2011 SWAC Championship, the first in program history. Clark was selected as the Southwestern Athletic Conference Woman of the Year in 2012 and was the conference nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award for excellence in service, leadership, athletics, and academics. Clark graduated Magna Cum Laude from Jackson State with a bachelors degree in social work in 2012 and her Masters in social work from Florida State in 2013.

Madison Beasley, a proud alumna of Alabama State University, begins her first season coaching at the collegiate level and is excited to return to the program that gave her so much. Originally from Gilbert, Arizona, Beasley brings with her a strong background as both a player and a coach, along with a deep passion for the game. Beasley was a four-year setter for the Hornets from 2019 to 2023, playing a pivotal role in leading the team to a SWAC Championship. Her standout performance earned her First Team All-SWAC honors and the title of 2023 SWAC Setter of the Year. Following her playing career, she began coaching at Mana Toa Volleyball Club in Prattville, Alabama, where she helped develop young athletes and grow her coaching foundation. Now back on campus, Beasley is eager to give back to the program that shaped her as a student-athlete. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology (2023) and recently earned her Master of Business Administration in June 2024. Her unique combination of playing experience, academic achievement, and leadership potential makes her a valuable addition to the coaching staff.

Liran Zamir joined the Alabama State University Volleyball staff in May of 2024 as Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. Zamir comes to Alabama State after five seasons as the Mens Volleyball Head Coach at Santa Monica College. His 2024 team finished second in the conference and made it to the quarterfinals in the state playoffs. Zamir mentored setter Jason Walmer who received the Player of the Year award and led the state in digs. In addition, Zamir mentored two first-team All-WSC players and one second-team All-WSC player. Zamir assisted the U21 men's team with USA Volleyball NTDP winter session in Anaheim and coached the 16's team at MB Surf Volleyball Club. After the 2023 season, Zamir worked with the Men's Collegiate National Team of the NTDP in Anaheim. Zamir received the AVCA Diversity Award in 2023 after building the SMC program as inclusive and diverse. Coach Liran led the team to a back-to-back state playoff appearance in 2023. In the 2022 season, Zamir led the team back to state playoffs after finishing third in the conference and sixth overall. Zamir mentored two first-team All-WSC players and two second-team All-WSC players that year. Zamir received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 award. Zamir started as an assistant coach to Coach Turhan Douglas for the men's volleyball program of SMC in 2020 and was named head coach the following season. During the 2022 season, Zamir was the Head Coach of the Quiksilver18 team in the SCVC club and led the YULA girls' varsity team in 2021. Before working at SMC, Zamir coached in the small city of Nili, Israel. He coached the U18 boy's and girl's club teams and led the youth program to a national championship (U12) for boys and girls in the 2018-19 season. Zamir spent two years with the Hapoel Jerusalem Volleyball Club, coaching the boys U16 and U18 teams. In the 2017 season, he led the U16 to playoffs and the season after that, to promotion to the top division. Coach Zamir coached Hanissuy High School in Jerusalem and led the girl's team to two regional championships (2015, 2018) and national beach volleyball tournament achievements (3rd 2015, 2nd 2018). Zamir played for the Hapoel Jerusalem men's volleyball team in the Israel premier league. He is also certified as a personal gym trainer and holds a bachelor's degree in history and a master's in sports management through the University of Kansas.

Candace Martin rejoined Alabama State Athletics in February 2025 as the Associate Head Coach and Director of Volleyball Operations. A proud alumna and Memphis, Tenn. Native, Martin brings a wealth of experience in collegiate athletics and volleyball operations to her dual leadership role within the Hornets’ program. In addition to her coaching and operations responsibilities at ASU, Martin currently serves as the SWAC representative on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Assistant Coaches Committee, contributing to national conversations around professional development, advocacy, and the advancement of the sport. She is no stranger to ASU or the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). As a student-athlete at Alabama State University from 2014 to 2018, she was a standout volleyball player who helped lead the team to four SWAC championships. Her decorated collegiate career includes honors such as First Team All-SWAC (2018), SWAC Co-Player of the Year (2018), All-SWAC Tournament Team (2017), ASU Female Student-Athlete of the Year (2018), and the prestigious title of 2019 SWAC Woman of the Year. A proven leader on and off the court, Martin served as team captain for two seasons and held dual leadership roles as ASU SAAC President and SWAC SAAC President during her senior year. After earned her bachelor’s degree in Recreational Therapy with a minor in Business Administration from Alabama State, graduating summa cum laude, she went on to earn a Dual Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Sport Business Management from the University of Central Florida. While at UCF, she served as a graduate assistant at The Institute for Sport and Social Justice, hosted Season 3 of the Invisible Women in Sport Zoomcast, and interned with Special Olympics International. Prior to returning to Alabama State, Martin spent two years at the SWAC office as Assistant Director for Championships and Operations. In that role, she assisted with planning and execution of conference championships and events, managed daily operations, and oversaw the SWAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and SWAC Volunteer Program. Martin also brings valuable experience from national sports organizations, having completed internships with the NCAA as a Championship Operations Postgraduate Intern and with the Indianapolis Colts as a Gameday Operations Intern. With deep ties to Alabama State and a strong background in operations, leadership, and player development, Martin is committed to elevating the Hornets’ volleyball program while continuing to mentor and inspire the next generation of student-athletes.