In Her Coaching Era: Alisha Glass Childress on Her New Role in AU Pro Volleyball
If you ask any of the 44 Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball stars who have shared the court with Alisha Glass Childress about their experience with the Olympic setter, they’ll sing her praises. And while they won’t have the chance to play alongside her this year, they will still feel her influence in Omaha and Madison this fall.
Three years ago, she came out of retirement to play in AU, and the years have been highlighted by an AU record-setting 1,167 assists, a league eighth-best 11 double-doubles, and a league tenth-best 302 career digs. Now, after the conclusion of her third AU campaign, Glass Childress has transitioned into a coaching role for the 2025 Championship season.
“I think this whole process has felt like the right move,” she said.
Glass Childress has already left her mark on players from the sidelines. Five of this year’s competitors have played under her during previous coaching stints: Morgan Hentz (Stanford, 2019) and McKenna Vicini (Stanford, 2019–20), when she helped the Cardinals to a national championship, plus Molly McCage, Sarah Wilhite-Parsons, and Justine Wong-Orantes, who were part of the 2018 Pan American Cup gold medal-winning U.S. squad.
And those aren’t her only ties. Teammates from her decade-long playing career know her as a steady voice of reason and an insightful advisor when it comes to making adjustments and game-time decisions. Now, instead of balancing both roles, she’ll be fully focused on coaching.
“I felt like I was half playing, half coaching. Sharing things that I see, offering technical or strategic adjustments,” she explained. “So it feels, in some ways, very natural to now move into this space.”
AU’s unique format puts the top four players each week in the captain’s chair to draft their own teams, but they aren’t left to navigate the responsibilities alone. Four coaches work alongside them throughout the season, pairing up with one captain each week, and offering their perspectives and strategies. Glass Childress brings something unique to that group: the experience of having competed in AU as recently as last season.
“Having played so recently, I really know exactly what they’re feeling,” she said. “When you’re coming from that place, it can create an instant connection, or an instant relationship-builder, or trust.”
Her career pivot isn’t confined to AU. After two seasons playing for the Pro Volleyball Federation/Major League Volleyball’s Vegas Thrill, where she earned All-Position Team honors in 2024 and a place in the league’s All-Star match in 2025, Glass Childress will take on her first professional head coaching position with the San Diego Mojo in 2026. And some of the players on her Mojo roster are among the stars competing for the AU crown this fall.
Kayla Caffey, Marlie Moserez, Carly Graham, and Taylor Sandbothe will get their first taste of Glass Childress in an official coaching capacity before playing under her in San Diego. New Mojo signee Vicini will have a familiar coaching voice during the AU season before heading into her first MLV campaign.
“I think San Diego is a really good opportunity to build something,” she said. “The organization and the community see the vision of what it can be to have a professional volleyball team in California, which has such a rich volleyball history.”
Her very first AU coaching assignment is fitting, as she’s been paired with another fixture in AU Pro Volleyball: Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía.
De La Cruz-Mejía has served as a captain 15 times, the most by any athlete across all AU sports. As she enters her 16th week of captaincy, she’s grateful for the chance to collaborate with Glass Childress.
“I feel so good with her,” Cruz-Mejía said of their pairing. “She’s so smart, and she really knows everything about the game. As a setter, she needed to know and see the game better than hitters do, so I’m so happy to work with her the first week. In the draft, she helped me a lot.”
Glass Childress credits all the coaches she’s worked with during her career for molding her playing and coaching philosophy into what it is today.
“I think every coach that I’ve had has an impact on how I am going to coach, or how I coach now,” she explained. “I think there’s just a little piece of each and every one of them, whether it’s the competitive drive, or the way that they plan practice, the way that they treat their athletes and build relationships.”
As she steps into this new phase, Glass Childress joins the wave of athlete-turned-coaches across AU pro sports. Whether in Omaha, Madison, or soon San Diego, her influence continues to spread across the pro game as she helps shape its future.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
