Griffin returned for her 15th season on the WKU volleyball staff during the 2023-24 school year and third as the program’s Director of Operations. Griffin has also coached at Jacksonville State and the University of Southern Indiana prior to her 11 seasons as an assistant at WKU. Since her arrival in 2009, the Hilltoppers own 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven regular season Conference USA championships, seven C-USA Tournament Championships, three Sun Belt Conference Regular-Season Championships and two SBC Tournament titles.
With Griffin on staff, WKU has a record of 398-68 overall and 198-15 against conference opponents. Griffin has helped guide 36 All-Conference USA honorees and 21 All-Sun Belt Conference selections, including four-time All-Americans Alyssa Cavanaugh, Jessica Lucas, and Lauren Matthews, three-time All-Americans Melanie Stutsman, Rachel Anderson, Paige Briggs, two-time All-American Jordyn Skinner, as well as Nadia Dieudonne who earned her first honor following stellar 2020-21 campaign.
During the 2023 campaign, Griffin helped guide the Hilltopppers to a 30-5 overall record and a perfect 16-0 CUSA record. The Tops also earned the longest 20-win season win streak in all of Division 1 with 24 seasons. In addition to the NCAA record, the Hilltoppers earned their ninth regular season championship following a perfect three-set sweep of FIU in front of the home crowd at E. A. Diddle Arena. Their eighth CUSA tournament championship came in another three-set sweep of New Mexico State in Lyncburg, Virginia. Following the conclusion of the 2023 season, Paige Briggs was named the Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year while six other Hilltoppers were named to CUSA All-Conference teams. After earning an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, the Tops swept first-round opponent Coastal Carolina to move onto the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Tennessee. Starting at No. 24 in the preseason polls, WKU finished at No. 21 by the end of the 2023 season and became the thirteenth program to finish in the top 25 and also win one NCAA tournament match.
Even in a challenging preaseason to the 2022 campaign, Griffin’s 14th season on The Hill still composed a 29-4 record, which included the program’s 1000th win and a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance with an at-large bid to the Dance. After starting the 2022 season without starting libero Kelsey Brangers due to injury, true freshman Abby Schaefer took charge in the passing game all season long, along with redshirt-freshman Callie Bauer setting, new to the court. The Tops would gain their 15th championship since joining Conference USA, earning the regular season title in a battle against Rice to go undefeated in conference in the regular season. After opening the season at No. 21 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, WKU maintained status in the Top-25 all season long, reaching as high as No. 20, while rounding out the No. 23 spot in December. Closing a historic career, Lauren Matthews finished up her time in the Red and White earning the C-USA Alyssa Cavanugh Player of the Year award for the third time in her career, tabbed AVCA South Region Player of the Year, and AVCA Second Team All-American – the first Hilltopper with three team remarks. Matthews ended her time on The Hill as WKU’s all-time blocks leader and second all-time in kills. 2022 also saw senior Paige Briggs with another All-Region and All-American status, while embarking on her 1000th career kills and digs.
The 2021 campaign was another for the record books. Following the shortest offseason in program history due to the 2020 season being played in spring 2021, the Hilltoppers produced a 28-2 overall record with a third-straight NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance. The Tops secured their 13th and 14th championships of a possible 16 during their time in Conference USA, winning the East Division and Tournament once again. WKU spent two weeks ranked at No. 15 in the AVCA Coaches Poll - the best ranking in program history - and would close the season at No. 20 in the final poll. Lauren Matthews was named the first-ever Conference USA Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year and doubled it up with the league's Defensive Player of the Year honor. Postseason awards rolled in with Matthews being tabbed the AVCA South Player of the Year and AVCA Third Team All-American after leading the nation in hitting percentage with a program-record mark of .480. Matthews, along with Paige Briggs and Nadia Dieudonne each landed All-Region accolades for the third-straight season while Kayland Jackson earned the first All-Region honor of her career. Katie Isenbarger landed Honorable Mention All-Region as well. The Hilltoppers' team mark of .341 ranked second in the country as well. WKU carried the biggest roster in program history with 18 players and would have six graduate following the season.
Despite an on-going global pandemic, WKU Volleyball achieved its best season yet in 2020-21. Going 23-1 overall, WKU’s lone loss on the season came to the eventual national champions in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Red and White earned the No. 16 rank in the final AVCA poll, which tied the team’s best-ever ranking. Lauren Matthews (2nd Team) joined Alyssa Cavanaugh (3rd Team) as the only players in WKU Volleyball history to be recognized on one of the AVCA’s three All-American lists. Nadia Dieudonne earned Senior CLASS Award All-American status as well.
During the 2019 campaign - Griffin's last as an assistant coach - the Hilltoppers posted a 32-2 overall record which included a perfect 14-0 mark in Conference USA, the league's regular season and tournament titles, and the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament national seed at No. 15. The Tops became one of just five programs in the nation to produce 20 or more consecutive 20-win seasons.
Hilltopper Nation showed up by the masses to support the Hilltoppers inside Diddle Arena with record-setting crowds on back-to-back nights for the NCAA Tournament. Thursday night, 4,514 were in attendance to watch the Tops win their fourth-ever NCAA Tournament match. One night later, 5,023 people came through the arena doors to watch the rematch between WKU and Louisville. While the Tops bowed out of the tournament, a statement was made that Diddle Arena was near the top of the list of volleyball atmospheres across the country. The two-day attendance of 9,537 ranked fourth of the 16 host sites behind only the three national attendance leaders across the NCAA Volleyball season, Nebraska, Hawai’i and Wisconsin. Friday night’s attendance alone topped the two-day total of eight of the other sites.
Griffin helped guide Paige Briggs (Freshman of the Year) and Lauren Matthews (Player of the Year) to earn AVCA Region superlatives and Conference USA superlatives. Matthews also added AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors and C-USA Tournament MVP status. Nadia Dieudonne collected C-USA Setter of the Year honors and AVCA All-Region recognition in her first year on The Hill.
After graduating five seniors - including two four-time All-Americans - the WKU staff was faced with a tall task during the 2018 campaign. The squad returned just two upperclassman front row players and only one that had seen significant court time. Despite an uphill battle to conquer, the WKU staff led the squad to its 19th-straight 20-win season and secured the No. 2 seed in the C-USA Tournament for the second-consecutive season finishing with a 20-10 record. Individually, Rachel Anderson earned All-American honors for the third time of her career and was named a Senior CLASS Award candidate. Additionally, the senior collected Conference USA's coveted Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship.
Returning an experienced core, the 2017 WKU Volleyball squad continued finding new records to break. On Oct. 6, 2017, Griffin helped lead the unit to its 30th-straight win over a C-USA opponent for the league record. That streak would stretch to 38 matches before a setback at North Texas. After tying the Mean Green for the C-USA Regular Season Championship, WKU hit the ground running come postseason time, getting to play all five postseason matches in the Bluegrass State.
Hosting the C-USA Tournament for the first time, the Red and White put on a show for the Diddle Arena crowd, as the squad clinched its fourth-straight trip to The Dance. The Lady Toppers would end up heading to Lexington, Ky., for the NCAA Tournament and sweep defensive-power Notre Dame to advance to the second round for the third time in Griffin's nine seasons on staff. The next night, the Lady Toppers took a 2-0 lead on host and No. 6 Kentucky before the Wildcats fought back and ultimately claimed the five-set match.
For the seventh-consecutive season, the Lady Toppers found themselves ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll, spending two weeks ranked and the remainder of the season receiving votes.
Throughout the 2017 campaign, the Lady Toppers received numerous honors. Both Alyssa Cavanaugh and Jessica Lucas were named Senior CLASS Award candidates before Lucas became a finalist and brought home First-Team All-American status. Lucas ultimately three-peated as the C-USA Setter of the Year while Cavanaugh repeated as the league's Player of the Year and went on to earn AVCA Third-Team All-American status. Lucas and Rachel Anderson both collected All-American nods as well. Cavanaugh was named the C-USA Female Athlete of the Year for her remarkable senior season on The Hill.
The 2016 squad proved to be one of the elite teams in the nation both on and off the court. After posting a cumulative team GPA of 3.61 for the 2016-17 school year to earn a spot on the AVCA Academic Honor Roll, WKU was the only DI program to earn top-25 academic honors and finish in the top-25 (or receiving votes) in the final AVCA Coaches Poll of 2016. The Red and White posted a 30-3 campaign, including a perfect 14-0 mark in regular-season C-USA action and a 21-match winning streak. Claiming both the conference regular season and tournament championships for the third year since joining Conference USA, the Lady Toppers made the program's 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, traveling to Stanford, Calif.
Griffin helped WKU to perhaps its best season in program history in 2015 as the Lady Toppers finished with a 32-4 record and repeated as C-USA regular season and tournament champions. A season highlight came when WKU opened the year by defeating No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison. The win marks the fifth time in the last four seasons that WKU knocked out a top-25 opponent. The Lady Toppers ended the season in style as WKU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history and finished the year nationally ranked for the second time with a final ranking of No. 22 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
Five Lady Toppers earned All-Conference honors as voted by the C-USA Coaches, including Alyssa Cavanaugh, Noelle Langenkamp, Jessica Lucas, Haley Bodway and Sydney Engle. Rachel Anderson became the second straight Lady Topper to be named Freshman of the Year and Lucas earned Setter of the Year honors. Lucas and Cavanaugh repeated as AVCA All-America selections.
For the team's first season in Conference USA, Griffin and the 2014 squad took home a co-championship for its 15-1 league record while winning the C-USA Championship, finishing the season 30-6 overall after making its eighth NCAA appearance in program history. Highlighting the year was a win at home over No. 8 Purdue, recording a victory over the highest-ranked opponent in program history. For the second-straight year, WKU defeated a nationally-ranked Boilermaker team in five sets.
Four Lady Toppers earned All-Conference honors as voted on by the C-USA coaches, including Heather Boyan, Cavanaugh, Lucas and Noelle Langenkamp. Cavanaugh was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year while the Louisville native along with Lucas went on to earn AVCA All-American and All-Region accolades.
In the 2013 season, Griffin helped WKU to a regular-season title in its last season in the SBC with a 27-6 overall record and 17-1 against league opponents. The Lady Toppers opened the season for the first-time ever ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll at No. 21 before moving up to No. 16 after defeating No. 16 Purdue in West Lafayette in its opening weekend. The ranking was the highest in school history. The team stayed ranked or received votes for 15-consecutive weeks throughout 2013.
At season's end, SBC coaches honored the Lady Toppers by placing five on All-Conference teams and honoring three individuals with specialty awards. Stutsman earned the league's inaugural Setter of the Year honor while Potts won Defensive Player of the Year for the third time. Stutsman along with Paige Wessel and Noelle Langenkamp were garnered with first-team accolades while Potts and Heather Boyan were named to the second team. The Lady Toppers were given the Team Academic Award after earning the highest GPA out of the league's 10 schools.
In 2012, Griffin aided the Lady Toppers into a consistent ranking in the AVCA Top 25, reaching as high as No. 17 and finishing No. 21 in the final poll, as well as winning their first NCAA Tournament match with a straight-set victory over Loyola Marymount. WKU won its second-consecutive SBC regular-season and tournament championships, dropping only one set to a league opponent.
At the season's conclusion, a league-record six Lady Toppers earned All-Conference honors while Potts was named SBC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight year. Skinner and Stutsman went on to be named All-Region and All-Americans.
The 2011 season found WKU back on top of the Sun Belt standings, winning the regular-season and tournament crowns. Skinner and Potts took the league's yearly awards, winning Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. WKU volleyball program also achieved new levels of recognition on the national circuit in 2011. For the first time in program history, WKU entered the AVCA Top 25 Poll, ranked no. 24 in the nation heading into the postseason. The Lady Toppers also reached a program high No. 21 in the NCAA RPI.
After a year's absence, WKU returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2010 after notching its second at-large bid in program history to the big dance. Four Lady Toppers were selected to the All-Conference team while Stutsman earned SBC Freshman of the Year. On top of that, Stutsman and Tiffany Elmore were named AVCA All-Region selections with Stutsman going on to be named the region's Freshman of the Year and an All-American.
WKU improved its league-win total in Griffin's first year in 2009 after coming off a season prior with a conference tournament championship. Elmore earned league recognition with her name being added to All-Conference and All-Tournament Team selections.
Griffin spent four seasons at Jacksonville State University before her stint on The Hill, where she also served as an assistant. At Jacksonville State, she helped guide the Gamecocks to back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles in 2006 and 2007, back-to-back OVC Tournament crowns in 2005 and 2006 and the school's first two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to her coaching career at Jacksonville State, Griffin led the University of Southern Indiana, her alma mater, to a 21-9 record in her only season on the Screaming Eagles' coaching staff. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from USI in 2004.
Griffin, a native of Montgomery, Ind., and a graduate of Barr-Reeve High School, was a four-year starter for USI from 1999-2002, compiling an 87-35 overall record. She helped USI win its first ever Great Lakes Valley Conference Regular-Season Championship in 2000 and led USI to its first GLVC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2002.
She ranks fifth in the school's record books in career digs with 1,153 and third in career service aces with 145. During her senior season at USI, she averaged a career-high 3.56 kills and 3.59 digs per game. A four-time Academic All-GLVC selection and three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, she was named to the Verizon Academic All-American First Team in her senior year.
Formerly Kristi Kavanaugh, she is married to Justin Griffin. The couple welcomed their first son, Jaxon, in July 2011, followed by Jase in August 2016.
Last updated January 2023
