Heather Gearhart - Volleyball Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Heather Gearhart

Title:
Volunteer Assistant Coach

Heather Gearhart is entering her second season as a volunteer assistant coach with the Tennessee volleyball program, working primarily with liberos and defensive specialists.

In her first season at University of Tennessee, Gearhart played a key part in the largest single-season turnaround in program history. The Lady Vols had a 14-win increase overall from 2017 to 2018, 11-win increase in Southeastern Conference play and an eight-place jump in the conference standings.

After being picked to finish 10th, Tennessee to 16 SEC wins and a second place finish in his first season on staff. For the 15th time in program history, Tennessee was selected to the NCAA Tournament advancing to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the 10th time in UT history.

The Lady Vols were ranked as high as 19th in the AVCA Rankings, reentering the polls for the first time since 2012. The team was ranked in the final five polls of the season. Against the AVCA top-25, the Lady Vols captured four-ranked wins in 2018, the most of any SEC team and the only team in the conference to have a winning record.

With the help of Gearhart, Tennessee finished fourth in the SEC with 15.21 digs/set. The Lady Vols 1896 total digs this season is the most for any UT team since the 2013 season.

She saw Madison Coulter and Brooke Schumacher both average more than 3.00 digs per set in 2018 while both players finished with more than 300 total digs on the season.

Schumacher entered the top five in career digs in Tennessee history, finishing tied for fourth with Kylie Marshall with 1,374 career digs. She led the team in digs 10 times this season with three matches of 20-plus digs.

Coulter finished the 2018 season with five 20-plus dig matches including setting her new career high twice this season. Her new career-high in digs was set for the second time in the NCAA Tournament First Round, accumulating 29 digs in the five-set win over Colorado State.

Gearhart came to Tennessee after playing overseas while earning her master’s degree.

She most recently helped Team BIP finish seventh in the Global Challenge in Pula, Croatia playing libero. Prior to that, Gearhart played at University of Nottingham in England as a part of a post-graduate athletic scholarship. Serving as captain, Gearhart helped Nottingham to a top eight finish in the UK.

Prior to her time in Europe, Gearhart played four seasons at the University of North Carolina (2012-2015).

During her time in Chapel Hill, Gearhart helped the Tar Heels make four appearances in the NCAA Tournament including an Elite Eight appearance in 2014. Her Tar Heel team would also take home the ACC Championship in 2014.

In her four years, she appeared in 89 career matches (227 sets), totaling 296 digs, 43 assists and 26 service aces playing along the back row as a defensive specialist and libero.

Heading into her senior season with the Tar Heels, Gearhart was selected to the 2015 USA Collegiate National Team as a libero for the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships.

Gearhart graduated from North Carolina receiving a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science with a minor in coaching education in 2015. She earned her master’s degree in marketing from University of Nottingham in 2017.