UAPB Volleyball Announces Austin as Assistant Coach & Buard as Graduate Assistant
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff head volleyball coach Gabrielle Floyd announces Alexis Austin as the Lady Lions Assistant Coach and Haley Buard as the Lady Lions Graduate Assistant.
Austin heads to UAPB after serving as the Graduate Assistant Coach and Director of Operations for East Central University for the last two seasons.
Austin is a Fort Worth, Texas native who attended Texas Southern University. During her time, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Studies and played for the university’s volleyball team.
As a student-athlete, Austin received many accolades including two-time SWAC All-Tournament Team, Highest Percentage Award, Kill Maker Award, Most Outstanding Offensive Player Award, SWAC Commissioner Honor Roll Honoree, 1000 Kills Club Honoree and a two-time SWAC Player of the Week.
In 2020, she became the graduate assistant and director of operations at East Central University for 2 seasons. During her time at ECU, she assisted in successfully rebuilding the program from a 2-29 overall record to a 15-14 overall, 11-5 conference record, the best record in program history.
During her stint as a graduate assistant, Austin coached Thalianette Garcia, Alejandra Delgado, and Emma Strickland, whom all received second-team all-conference recognition.
During the offseason, Alexis was an assistant volleyball coach for a club team in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Alexis earned her Master’s in Sports Administration in Summer 2022.
Most recently, Haley played all 4 years as a Middle and Outsider hitter for Mississippi Valley State University.
Under the leadership of Douglas Hunter, Buard is a four-year recipient of the SWAC Academic Commissioner’s Honor Roll and received All-Tournament Honors at the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic as a student-athlete.
Buard is a native of Arlington Texas where she attended James Bowie High School.
Currently, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation from MVSU. She’s an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and volunteers in several community events in the DFW area.
