April 30, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Andria Harshman, a volunteer assistant coach on the Notre Dame volleyball staff, was recently named the head coach at Grace College. Harshman was an assistant under Irish head coach Debbie Brown during the 2007 campaign.
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Andria Harshman for five years and I’m so excited for this next opportunity for her,” said Brown. “From the first time I saw her coaching at our summer camps, which was several years ago, and throughout this past season with the Notre Dame volleyball team, I’ve always been impressed with her ability to teach and relate to the athletes. She has tremendous enthusiasm and energy and displays a passion for the sport that’s contagious. I’m excited to see the progress she’ll make with the Grace program. We’ll miss her here, but we know there’s a group of student-athletes at Grace that are getting an amazing coach.”
Harshman is a 2002 graduate of Grace College where she was a member of both the volleyball and track teams. Through her four years there on the court, the volleyball team won three Mid-Central College Conference tournaments and three regular season championships. She also broke the school record in the hammer throw and placed fourth at NCCAA Nationals in that event while finishing third in the javelin. Harshman was Grace College’s 2002 Female Athlete of the Year.
While with the Irish, Harshman helped the volleyball program earn a record of 15-13, including a Senior Day win over No. 17 Louisville to blemish the Cardinal’s perfect regular-season conference record.
Harshman takes over a Grace volleyball program that has won 39-percent of its games over the past five seasons. Grace returns five upperclassmen from a team that finished 12-14 in 2007. The Lancers are members of the NAIA, NCCAA and Mid-Central College Conference.
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