College: William Woods picks Tabbert as volleyball coach

Doug Tabbert has been named the new William Woods University head volleyball coach, school athletic director Jason Vittone announced Monday.

"We are happy to welcome Doug to the William Woods family," Vittone said. "He brings a wealth of experience to our program and I'm excited to see where he can take us."

Tabbert spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Benedictine (Kansas) College, an NAIA school. He replaces Ashley Nehls, who resigned in late April.

"I am so happy to have the opportunity to lead the volleyball program at William Woods University," Tabbert said. "There is solid volleyball history at William Woods but also some challenging competitors within the AMC, so that makes it an exciting situation to share with our volleyball student-athletes and staff.

"I'm grateful that Mr. Vittone has provided me with this opportunity and I'm appreciative of everyone that was involved in the search process. I look forward to building relationships with the campus community, the athletic staff, and most of all the members of our volleyball program."

Prior to his stint at Benedictine, Tabbert was head coach for a season at NCAA Division II Cameron (Oklahoma) University. He has also been an assistant coach at two other Division II schools - South Dakota School of Mines and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

A native of Perry, Kansas, Tabbert holds bachelor's of science degrees in psychology and business administration from Baker (Kansas) University. He also has a master's degree in developmental kinesiology from Bowling Green State (Ohio) University.

William Woods finished last season at 20-16 overall and 9-3 in the American Midwest Conference. The Lady Owls open the 2019 season at Missouri Valley College on Aug. 21.

Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or on Twitter @FultonSunSports.