Randi Raff '05 concluded her four-year career at the helm of the USI Volleyball program in 2022. She led the Screaming Eagles to their first season at the Division I level.
Raff brought the Eagles back to the top of the Great Lakes Valley Conference during her first three seasons after being named the 12th head coach in program history in February of 2019.
In just her second season on the sidelines at USI, Raff led her alma mater to its third GLVC championship in 2020-21 and first since she was a senior for the Eagles in 2004. USI went 17-4 during the COVID-19 altered season, including 14-4 during a regular-season that saw the Eagles knock off No. 1-ranked Lewis University to earn the No. 3 seed in the GLVC Tournament.
Her squad, which saw two players collect AVCA National Player of the Week honors, earned the program's first-ever national ranking as it finished the season ranked No. 15 in the final AVCA Division II Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
Following USI's regular-season finale win over Lewis, Raff's Eagles went 3-0 in the GLVC Tournament, knocking off No. 7 University of Missouri-St. Louis in three sets in the semifinals before outpacing Missouri S&T in five sets in the championship match to earn the GLVC title.
In 2021, Raff's Eagles landed in the NCAA II Midwest Region rankings during the regular-season before advancing to the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament.
During Raff's first year in 2019, the Eagles showed vast improvement, especially late in the season when her squad reeled off four straight wins, including a four-set victory over No. 8 Lewis. USI finished the year with a 15-15 record and a 7-8 mark in GLVC play after posting sub-.500 marks in the previous three seasons prior to Raff's arrival. Additionally, the Eagles swept the GLVC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in program history.
Raff, who played volleyball at USI in 2001, 2003 and 2004, returns to the Screaming Eagles after spending the previous three seasons at Georgia Tech, where she was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
At Georgia Tech, Raff assisted in putting together the Highest Honorable Mention recruiting classes in 2017 and 2018 per Prepvolleyball.com and helped the Yellow Jackets to their most victories in 12 years as they posted a 24-8 overall record and a 15-5 mark in ACC play in 2016.
Raff also coached two first-team All-ACC players as well as one honorable mention All-American and ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year. She coordinated and organized all recruiting activities, including identification of prospects as well as establishing and maintaining day-to-day communications.
Prior to Georgia Tech, Raff spent the 2015 season as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Indiana after spending three seasons at Northern Kentucky University as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
During her time with Northern Kentucky, Raff helped the Norse to a 56-37 (.602) record in its first three years of NCAA Division I play, including the best start to any first-year Division I program (12-1 in 2012). She served as acting head coach for the program's first-ever NCAA Division I post-season win, which came during the 2014 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament—she filled in for Liz (Holmes) Hart, who was expecting the birth of her first child.
Prior to NKU, Raff spent two seasons at Division III Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. She helped lead the Captains to back-to-back 38-win seasons, including a national runner-up finish in 2011.
Raff was honored with the 2011 American Volleyball Coaches Association 30 under 30 award, which recognizes young up-and-coming coaches among all NCAA divisions in both men's and women's volleyball.
A native of Rensselaer, Indiana, Raff also served as an assistant coach for two seasons at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, prior to her stint with Christopher Newport.
Raff broke into coaching as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Purdue University from 2005-07. She was the Head Junior Varsity Coach/Assistant Varsity Coach at Mt. Vernon High School in 2007 before brief volunteer stints with USI and former GLVC member Saint Joseph's College in the spring of 2008. She was the Head Coach of the 16-2's team for the Pursuit Volleyball Club in Jackson, Missouri, from 2008-09.
Raff was a team captain for the Eagles' 2004 GLVC championship squad that posted a 15-1 record in league play en route to their second NCAA II Tournament appearance in three seasons. She earned her bachelor's degree in exercise science from USI in May 2005 before earning a master's degree in pedagogy and administration from Purdue in 2007.
Randi Raff at USI
|
| Year |
Overall Record |
GLVC Record |
Accomplishments |
| 2019 |
15-15 (.500) |
7-8 (.467) |
Went 1-1 vs. AVCA Top 25 teams |
| 2020-21 |
17-4 (.810) |
14-4 (.778) |
GLVC Tournament Champions;
Ranked No. 15 in final AVCA Top 25 poll;
Ranked as high as No. 12 in AVCA Top 25 poll;
Went 3-2 vs. AVCA Top 25 teams;
Went 1-0 vs. AVCA No. 1 team |
| 2021 |
18-13 (.581) |
11-7 (.611) |
Earned votes in AVCA Top 25 Preseason poll;
GLVC Tournament Semifinalist
Went 0-3 vs. AVCA Top 25 teams |
|
| DII Totals |
50-32 (.610) |
32-19 (.628) |
1 GLVC Championship
4-6 vs. AVCA DII Top 25 teams |
|
| Year |
Overall Record |
OVC Record |
Accomplishments |
| 2022 |
1-28 |
1-17 |
First season in NCAA Division I |
|
| DI Totals |
1-28 |
1-17 |
— |
| Totals |
51-60 (.459) |
33-36 (.478) |
1 GLVC Championship
4-6 vs. AVCA DII Top 25 teams |
|
|
