Sullivan was named as the Head Volleyball Coach on May 23, 2023 and enters her first season at the helm of the Falcons in the Fall.
“Grace is a wonderful young, motivated coach who has a great mindset for volleyball,” said Fleagle. “She understands the balance of what it takes to be a successful student-athlete and demonstrated that she would encourage our team and help continue with the winning tradition. We are confident she will motivate, inspire, and teach our players her winning ways. We look forward in supporting her as she takes over the reins for our volleyball program and leads our Falcons in her new role.”
Sullivan is a 2021 graduate of Ursinus College and comes to Allentown after a two-year stint as the graduate assistant coach for the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at Widener University. She will make her collegiate head coaching debut with the Falcons.
While at Widener, Sullivan was involved in every aspect of both programs, which included practice planning, skill development and implementation, goal setting for the student-athletes and programs, among many other duties. She also assisted in facilitating fundraising efforts and actively participated in national and regional recruiting, both at national and high academic showcase camps.
As a student-athlete at Ursinus, Sullivan ranked fifth in the Centennial Conference in digs per set as a junior in 2019 and ranked second in the league with 36 service aces. During her sophomore campaign, Sullivan led the team with 353 digs and had a pair of back-to-back 30-dig matches. She finished her career with a total of 856 digs and 96 service aces through three seasons before her senior season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sullivan played in every single match of her collegiate career and off the court, she was named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll for two consecutive years.
Prior to Widener, Sullivan got her start on the sidelines as an assistant volleyball coach for Club Integrity in 2018. In 2022 and 2023, she became a head coach for the Dynamic Volleyball Academy. In 2022, her team placed first in two out of the five tournaments and second once.
Sullivan graduated from Strath Haven High School in Wallingford in 2017 and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Ursinus in 2021. This May, she earned her Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from Widener.
“I already feel at home and have been given an unbelievable amount of support from our colleagues and staff,” said Sullivan. “This opportunity is a dream come true, and I am so excited to be able to further my collegiate coaching career as a Cedar Crest College Falcon.”
Sullivan inherits a Cedar Crest College volleyball program which is coming off consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Tournament Championships.