Tina Readling, now in her 11th season with the program, rejoined the Elon University volleyball coaching staff in March 2012 as an assistant coach. She was promoted to her current role as associate head coach in 2015 and serves as the team’s recruiting coordinator.
Readling returned to Elon after serving as a volunteer assistant at Duke University during the 2011 season. She was a volunteer assistant with the Elon program in 2010 when the team won the SoCon North Division championship.
While COVID-19 prevented the Phoenix from competing in the fall of 2020, the team did play an abbreviated schedule in the spring of 2021. The shortened season was highlighted by a five-match win streak as Elon earned a pair of victories over CAA rival UNCW before a 3-0 sweep at UNC Greensboro and a 3-2 win at home against Davidson. The Phoenix then capped off the win streak with a 3-1 decision over James Madison, marking the program's first-ever win against the Dukes. Leah Daniel was tabbed the CAA Player of the Year, was a First Team All-Conference selection, and became the first student-athlete in program history to earn AVCA All-Region and All-American honors. Also earning postseason honors was Jordan Gower, who was selected to the All-CAA Second Team. Additionally, the season saw Isabella Seman selected as one of 30 candidates across the country for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award.
The program's first season in the newly built Schar Center, the Phoenix opened the 2018 season with a seven-match win streak as the maroon and gold finished 13-15 overall with a 6-7 record at home. Kam Terry was named to the CAA Third Team while Kellyn Trowse was selected to the All-Rookie Team. During the 2019 campaign, Elon secured the No. 5 seed in the CAA Conference Championship after finishing the regular season 13-17 overall and 7-9 in league play. The program's second appearance in the CAA Tournament since joining the league in 2014, the maroon and gold opened with a five-set victory over fourth-seeded Northeastern to advance to its first CAA Semifinal. The Phoenix took the first set 25-19 against top-seeded Towson, but fell in four sets to the tournament champions as Leah Daniel earned All-Tournament Team and First Team All-Conference honors.
Elon’s 2016 season saw a resurgence of sorts with the Phoenix posting an 18-15 record while head coach Mary Tendler earned her 200th victory in a sweep of North Carolina A&T on August 30. Hosting four teams for the Elon Phoenix Classic Sept. 8 and 9, Elon defeated all four opponents on the way to winning the tournament. The run helped the Phoenix to a season-long winning streak of nine matches from Sept. 3-16. Four players were named CAA Players of the Week throughout the season and Sydney Busa picked up CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and Third Team All-CAA honors at season’s end.
The run continued in 2017 when Elon made its first appearance in the CAA Tournament with a 16-16 record on the year to go with five CAA wins, the most for the program since joining the conference. In the first round of the tournament, the Phoenix took eventual champion James Madison to five sets on the Dukes' home floor, but fell short in the end with a 28-30, 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 15-9 loss. With 518 kills on the year - the most in the CAA and the 18th-most in the nation - Busa was named a First Team All-CAA honoree after the regular season while repeating as CoSIDA Academic All-District, and during the season became the fourth player in program history to join the 1,000-kill and 1,000-dig club. Newcomer Kodi Garcia was tabbed the CAA's Rookie of the Year after posting 1,279 assists, which tied for the second-most assists in a season in program history and the most since Elon became a Division I program.
Before the upswing in 2016 and 2017, the Phoenix capped 2015 with a sweep of Northeastern in Alumni Gym on Senior Day to wrap up its second year in the CAA. During the course of the season, Readling saw Megan Gravley reach 1,000-career kills, while Gravley, Sydney Busa and Catherine Head earned spots on various all-tournament teams. Busa was also named to the CAA All-Academic team at the end of the year.
In 2014, Readling helped Elon through the conference transition as the Phoenix played its first year in the CAA. On Oct. 31, the maroon and gold claimed its first CAA victory with a 3-2 win over visiting William & Mary. Elon saw Sydney Busa earn a CAA All-Rookie selection and was also named the CAA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 6, while Megan Gravley earned CAA All-Academic Team honors.
During the 2013 season, Readling helped the Phoenix to its fourth straight SoCon Tournament berth. During the season Elon claimed the tournament title at the 49er Invitational after wins over Tennessee State, South Carolina State and host Charlotte. The Phoenix saw senior Cali Estes and rookie Ally Karle to all-conference honors as Estes was named to the All-SoCon second team after posting six triple-doubles on the season. Karle earned all-freshman accolades and was also named the SoCon Freshman of the Week during the year. Four players - Gravley, Kris Harris, Ana Nicksic and Maggie Reichard - were also earned academic all-conference honors.
In 2012, the team recorded a 9-7 SoCon record, a second-place finish in the North Division and a trip to the SoCon Tournament for the third straight season. The Phoenix posted a 6-2 mark in October, which was capped with four straight victories, including the team’s first win at Davidson in five seasons. Elon had three SoCon player of the week selections in Ali Deatsch (defensive/twice) and Harris (offensive), one player of the month selection in Celia Rose Eddy (defensive) and saw two freshmen (Gravley and Nicksic) named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team for the second straight year. Five players (Deatsch, Eddy, Harris, Allison Johnson and Reichard) were also named to the Fall All-SoCon Academic Team.
While at Duke under head coach Jolene Nagel, Readling helped coach the team to third in the Atlantic Coast Conference and an NCAA tournament appearance. Readling assisted with scouting opponents, edited match video and worked primarily with the defense and passers. She coached the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in Ali McCurdy and three All-ACC players.
Readling spent the 2010 season as a volunteer assistant at Elon when the program went 21-14 and 11-5 in SoCon play, winning its first conference division championship. She edited scouting video and assisted in practices, while also coordinating the team’s alumni weekend, Dig Pink match and senior night events.
Prior to her first role with the Phoenix, she worked as an assistant coach and lead clinician at Carolina Region High Performance. Readling assisted the Carolina Region High Performance Youth Team, which represented the Carolina region in Tucson, Ariz., at the 2011 National High Performance Championships.
Readling worked as a club coach for seven years at Piedmont and Alamance Force Volleyball Clubs, personally helping 22 players move on to play at varying levels of collegiate volleyball. While at Alamance Force from 2005-08, she coached the 17s and 18s teams and served as the assistant club director the last to years. Readling moved to Piedmont Volleyball Club in 2008 where she worked under director Blaine Tendler, the 2010 USAV National Junior Clinician of the Year. She worked with multiple age groups, including serving as the lead coach for the 14s during the 2011 club season.
For four years, Readling worked the assistant volleyball director at the Greensboro Sportsplex, one of the largest multisport facilities in the Southeast. In this role, she assisted with the operations of Sportsplex Volleyball Club and the youth development programs. Readling also directed all adult volleyball programming including Greensboro Grass Volleyball tournaments.
Before working at the Sportsplex, Readling taught English and coached at Alamance Christian School in Graham, N.C., for 10 years. She graduated from Bryan College with a bachelor’s degree in English education in 1999. Readling was named the Female Athlete of the Year at Bryan following her senior season with the volleyball team.
The former Tina Johnson, Readling and her husband, Josh, have been married for 16 years and reside in Gibsonville, N.C.
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Collegiate Coaching Experience
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| 2010 |
Volunteer Assistant Coach, Elon University |
| 2011 |
Volunteer Assistant Coach, Duke University |
| 2012-14 |
Assistant Coach, Elon University |
| 2015-Present |
Associate Head Coach, Elon University |
