LEXINGTON, Ky. - Talladega College women's volleyball assistant and men's volleyball associate head coach Kyle Liechti was named one of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 Award winners for 2024. The award highlights coaches at the College, Club, and Beach levels of volleyball. Liechti was one of 30 from the College Division and one of 80 over all three divisions.

With eight seasons of volleyball coaching experience, Liechti began his college coaching career in 2022 as an assistant coach for LaShaunda Spurgeon at Dillard University. Since coming to Talladega with Spurgeon in 2023 the Tornadoes are 48-16 (2023: 31-9, 2024 (As of Oct. 16): 17-7).  This year the Tornadoes are 8-1 at home while posting a 10-1 conference record. The Tornadoes women won their first conference championship and made their first NAIA Tournament appearance in 2023, and the men's program became the first men's volleyball program in Alabama in Spring 2024, as well as the first HBCU men's volleyball program in the NAIA.

To date, Liechti has coached 25 players to Conference Player of the Week awards, five First Team All-Conference Selections, four Second Team All-Conference Selections, and six Conference All-Tournament Team members.

He also had a Conference Attacker and Player of the Year, four NAIA AVCA Southeast All-Region selections, one NAIA AVCA All-American Third Team, and one AVCA All-American Honorable Mention.

The AVCA highlighted Liechti's with the below Q&A.

What made you decide to get into coaching volleyball?
I had an incredible experience playing collegiate club volleyball at Oklahoma State University. The impact that my coach had on me during my time there was what interested me in pursuing a coaching career, but what actually made me decide to pursue coaching was the impact that I could make to improve the lives of others while equally growing myself daily. As a lifelong learner, I believe that there's growth to be had every day - and I have the opportunity to instill very valuable life lessons into the lives of young adults.

What are your career goals in the sport? 
My career goal is to return to my alma mater, Oklahoma State University, and start the NCAA sponsored program. OSU is currently the only school in the Big XII that does not sponsor volleyball.  The longer I am in the coaching career, the more I realize that I have a unique role to play in the lives of the young adults that I work with. My biggest realization is that my purpose is bigger than my passion. My ultimate purpose and goal is to show the heart of Jesus in everything I do

Which coaches have influenced you the most? 
My collegiate club coach, Regan Sirbaugh, influenced me to pursue a coaching career and helped instill positivity and confidence into every aspect of what I do. I am also very influenced and inspired by my head coach, LaShaunda Spurgeon, who gave me my first collegiate opportunity. I get to come to work every day with opportunities to learn and grow in an environment that recognizes the value of each individual in our program. I also get to learn from someone who is grounded in her faith and believes that building good people is more important than building good volleyball players.

What do you enjoy most about your coaching job?
What I enjoy the most about coaching is the people and the connections I get to experience every day. I have been introduced to many different cultures and experiences and have had the opportunity to impact other people's lives as well as be impacted by so many people. I enjoy the opportunity to go through the ups and downs of life alongside colleagues and young adults who I respect and get to learn from every day. I am so grateful to be in the position I am in.

You can see the full list of winners by clicking here