Women's Volleyball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- ahain@uci.edu
- Phone:
- (949) 824 - 2320
Ashlie Hain enters her 12th season at the helm of the UC Irvine women’s volleyball program in 2026.
Since returning to her alma mater as head coach in 2015, Hain has accumulated 148 career victories. Four of those wins were against ranked teams with the most recent coming in 2023 when the Anteaters took down No. 25 UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, at home. The ‘Eaters also upset No. 7 USC (2016), No. 11 Hawai‘i (2019), and No. 21 San Diego (2015).
During her tenure, Hain has coached one All-American and 26 All-Big West performers, including 13 first-team selections. She has also mentored two Big West Freshman of the Year award winners (2018, 2023) and five Big West All-Freshman Team honorees.
Hain has led UC Irvine to a Big West Championship berth every year since the tournament’s inception in 2023. Last season, the Anteaters clinched their spot in the postseason with a sweep of eventual champion Cal Poly in the regular-season finale. The ‘Eaters finished in a tie for sixth with Hawai‘i in the conference standings and held the head-to-head tiebreaker after a 3-0 victory over the Rainbow Wahine in October.
In 2024, UCI went 16-14 and defeated UH in its final conference match to qualify for the Big West Championship. That win also completed the Anteaters’ first ever season sweep of Hawai‘i as they previously upended the ‘Bows, 3-2, in Honolulu on Sept. 28.
In 2022, UC Irvine finished the year 20-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big West. The 20 wins were the fourth most in program history, while the 13 conference wins were a school record. Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu highlighted the postseason awards, receiving AVCA All-America honorable mention distinction and being named to the AVCA All-Pacific South Region Team.
Hain also led the ‘Eaters to a 24-8 overall record in 2017, tying the school record for most victories in a season. After starting the year with a 12-1 non-conference mark, UCI went 10-6 in Big West action to finish third, their best showing since 2009. The team made its first postseason appearance since 2004, advancing to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Four Anteaters earned first-team All-Big West honors.
Hain guided UC Irvine to a second-straight NIVC appearance in 2018, marking the first time the ‘Eaters earned back-to-back national postseason bids since 2003 and 2004 when Hain was a player.
Hain, a two-time team captain, played at UC Irvine from 2001-04 and is still the career leader in assists with 5,698. She is also fifth in career digs (1,175) and holds the top three spots in the single-season assist annals as well as dotting the record book in single-match assists. Hain was the starting setter on UCI’s 2003 and 2004 NCAA Tournament teams. In 2003, she guided the Anteaters to their first-ever postseason win, a 3-2 victory over Missouri.
Hain returned to UC Irvine after coaching at American River College and serving as a Professor of Kinesiology since 2009. There, she took over a program that had won just three matches and led the Beavers to consecutive Big 8 Conference titles in 2013 and 2014. The 2013 squad advanced to the state championship finals. In 2014, Hain’s team reached the NorCal Regional semifinal, ending the year with a 22-7 record (13-1 conference) and a No. 3 ranking in the state. She amassed 127 wins in six years at ARC and was voted the Conference Coach of the Year as well as the Northern California Coach of the Year in 2013.
Hain began her coaching career at Moorpark College in 2007, where she was the associate head coach and helped the program win two Western State Conference Championships while earning a No. 4 state ranking. The Raiders were 42-7 during Hain’s two-year tenure.
At the club level, Hain served as a head coach for the Northern California Volleyball Club, where she led her team to a fourth-place finish in the Gold NVCA Power League. She also coached at SynergyForce Volleyball Club, mentoring a pair of preseason high school All-Americans. Hain led the 16-1s team to a fifth-place finish at nationals in 2013 and guided the 17-1s squad to a Far Westerns National Qualifier Open Division title and a first-place finish at the Northern California Champions in 2014.
Following her collegiate career, Hain spent two years in the professional ranks, playing in Stuttgart, Germany, and Split, Croatia. Hain prepped at La Reina High School, where she was a two-time All-CIF first-team honoree and two-time All-Tri Valley League Most Valuable Player.
A two-time Big West Scholar-Athlete and UC Irvine’s 2004 Lauds and Laurels Athlete of the Year, Hain graduated cum laude from UCI with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in management in 2004. She received a master’s degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2009.
Hain and her husband, Erik, have two sons, Lincoln and Lucas.
