Southern Arkansas University Athletics

Alli Harrell enters her fifth season as head coach of the Southern Arkansas University volleyball program in 2026 after returning to her alma mater in December 2021. Since taking over the Muleriders, Harrell has steadily rebuilt the program into a Great American Conference contender while developing student-athletes on the court and in the classroom.

Under Harrell's leadership, Southern Arkansas has shown consistent improvement each season. After inheriting a program coming off a five-win campaign, the Muleriders increased their win total in each of her first two seasons before posting their best season since 2015 in 2023. SAU finished 15-14 overall and 9-8 in Great American Conference play, recording the program's first winning season, first GAC Tournament appearance, and most conference victories in eight years. The turnaround earned Harrell the 2023 Great American Conference Coach of the Year award, making her the first volleyball coach in program history to receive the conference's top coaching honor.

Harrell has also guided the development of numerous all-conference and academic award winners during her tenure. In 2023, Kayte Delong earned All-GAC Second Team honors, while Lauryn Moultrie and Morgan Schuster were named All-GAC Honorable Mention. Delong also earned GAC Offensive Player of the Week recognition, Moultrie was a two-time GAC Defensive Player of the Week selection, and Schuster collected two GAC Setter of the Week honors during her career under Harrell. Southern Arkansas also placed five student-athletes on the GAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete Team in 2023—Kayte Delong, Morgan Schuster, Ava Tanner, Landry Rogers, and Carlin Whaley—the most of any conference institution that season.

The momentum continued into 2024 as the Muleriders entered the season following their highest preseason conference ranking since 2016 after Harrell led one of the nation's most improved programs.

Prior to returning to Magnolia, Harrell spent two seasons as head coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. She compiled a 32-17 overall record while leading the Lady Norse to back-to-back NJCAA Region II championships in 2020 and 2021. During her tenure, she coached two NJCAA All-Region II selections and an NJCAA Division II All-American.

Harrell began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Ouachita Baptist, where she spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons working primarily with the Tigers' hitters and blockers. During her two years on staff, Ouachita posted a combined 37 victories, including a 23-9 campaign and a fourth-place Great American Conference finish in 2018.

Following her playing career, Harrell also served as an athletic department intern at Logan High School in Utah, assisting with athletic administration, strength and conditioning, and volleyball operations while coaching with Cache Valley Volleyball Club.

A standout player for the Muleriders from 2014-17, Harrell was a three-time All-Great American Conference Honorable Mention selection, she was also named GAC Defensive Player of the Week during her career and earned GAC All-Academic honors in 2017. She helped lead Southern Arkansas to 51 victories and two GAC Tournament appearances, including the 2015 squad that advanced to the conference tournament championship match for the first time in program history.

Harrell still ranks among the program's all-time leaders in several career categories. She played a program-record 470 career sets while appearing in 126 matches with 107 starts. She is one of only two players in the rally-scoring era to record more than 1,000 career kills and 300 total blocks. Her 1,023 career kills, 314 total blocks, 1,208.0 points, and 2,783 attack attempts all rank third in program history, while her 274 block assists remain the school record. As a senior, she became just the eighth player in Great American Conference history to surpass 1,000 career kills and the seventh to record 300 career blocks.

Harrell concluded her playing career with 34 double-digit kill performances and 56 matches with at least three total blocks.

Alli graduated from Southern Arkansas University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management and Human Performance before earning a Master of Science in Sports Administration from Henderson State University in 2020. Harrell and her husband Caleb Harrell also welcome a new son to the program for the 2026 season. 

Coaching Timeline: 
Southern Arkansas: Head Coach (Dec. 2021 - 2026)
Northeast Oklahoma A&M: Head Coach (2020 - 2021)
Ouachita Baptist University: Assistant Coach (2018 - 2019)

Head Coaching Record Year-by-Year