Hanna Nicholson is entering her second season as the Graduate Assistant Coach of the MACU volleyball program for the 2022 season.
In her first season as the GA coach, the Evangels reached new heights by recording the program's first 30-win season since joining the NAIA in 2007, closing out the year with a 30-9 overall record and helped lead MACU to the program's first ever NCCAA National Championship match.
On Nov. 18, 2021, Nicholson assisted in guiding the Evangels to their first ever NCCAA Division I Central Region title after defeating College of the Ozarks 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-11), earning an automatic berth to just the program's third ever NCCAA Division I National Championship meet.
Mid-America Christian went on an incredible run to the championship match, defeating Judson (Ill.) in a five-set thriller (25-16, 18-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12) and swept both Warner (Fla.) (25-14, 25-14, 25-16) and nationally 24th-ranked Bethel (Ind.) (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) to advance to the semifinal round.
After coming away with a 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-12, 25-20) victory over Campbellsville (Ky.), the Evangels put up a tough fight against eventual National Champion Columbia International (S.C.), but fell just short in a 3-0 decision (25-23, 26-24, 25-20).
The Evangels also put together their best ever showing in Sooner Athletic Conference play during the 2021 season, finishing fourth in league play with a 15-5 conference mark.
Nicholson came to MACU after a three-year playing career with the Oklahoma City Stars, a Sooner Athletic Conference rival of the Evangels and a team that won five straight SAC championships.
In her three seasons with OCU, Nicholson played in 63 sets, recording 80 kills on a .137 attack percentage, 63 digs and six blocks. During those three campaigns, the Stars went 15-4 (10-0 SAC) in 2020-21, 34-4 (20-0 SAC) in 2019 and 31-6 (18-2 SAC) in 2018, making it to the NAIA Tournament in each of those seasons.
Before playing at OCU, Nicholson spent two seasons competing for Columbia (Mo.), another NAIA powerhouse program where she was named an Academic All-American, Academic All-Conference as well as the NAIA Champion of Character in 2016 while helping lead the Cougars to the NAIA Tournament in back-to-back years.
On top of her playing experience, Nicholson has spent her time around the game in a coaching role as well.
In her two years in Missouri, Nicholson was a club coach for a program called "Performance" and after transferring to Oklahoma City, returned to her roots coaching the Oklahoma Charge volleyball club, a team that Nicholson competed for during her high school playing career while also playing for Choctaw High School.
