Avari Ridgway was hired as the Associate Head Coach of the Corban University Beach Volleyball program in August of 2023.
Ridgway is no stranger to Warrior Nation, as she just completed her final season of eligibility with the indoor volleyball and beach volleyball programs at Corban over the 2022-23 school year where she put an exclamation point on a storied career. She originally arrived at Corban in the fall of 2018, playing five years of indoor as an everyday starter and began her short but eventful career in the sand during the spring of 2022.
As an indoor volleyball star, Ridgway was named an NAIA All-American on multiple occasions, appearing up and down the Corban record books in numerous categories that includes a second place spot in career kills (1,632) and third place finish in career blocks (309). In the sand, she was named to the NAIA All-Tournament Team on both trips to the NAIA National Invitational and was most recently named to the NAIA Pair of the Year in 2023 alongside teammate and partner Megan Dennis. She holds multiple single season and career records for the beach program and was integral in the Warriors' first team national championship in school history during the 2022 campaign.
In her short coaching career, Ridgway coached multiple camps of both the indoor and beach variety, ranging from middle school, high school, college hopefuls, and collegiate student-athletes. She has also engaged in numerous Art of Coaching campaigns she has learned invaluable tips and expertise on how to help student-athletes grow. She currently resides in Salem where she works as a marketing coordinator for a local design build firm. Ridgway loves to spend time with her family camping and being around water alongside playing tennis and going on walks with her dog.
"I'm so excited about this opportunity to continue to be a part of Corban Athletics," Ridgway shared. "I learned so much in my five years as a player and I hope to use that knowledge now as a coach. Being a part of. A successful program teaches you a lot of important lessons, and I hope to share those with our student-athletes moving forward. Corban means so much to me and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Dan and I care a lot about this program and the girls that are a part of it, we can't wait to see where this season goes!"
Stephens and Ridgway are set to begin in their new roles effective immediately, as the dynamic duo begins to prepare for the Warriors third season as an NAIA invitational sport and quite possibly their third-consecutive national championship match appearance.
