Kyra Iannone - Women's Beach Volleyball Coach

Kyra Iannone

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
kiannone@uab.edu
Phone:
520-635-3020

Head Coach Kyra Iannone enters her second year at the helm of the UAB beach volleyball program.

A household name on the international scene of beach volleyball, Iannone guided the Blazers to unprecedented success in her first year as head coach.

Highlighting UAB’s accomplishments in Iannone’s first season was a signature victory at No. 8 South Carolina which marked the Blazers’ first win over a nationally-ranked opponent in program history. The 3-2 triumph was also UAB’s first regular-season victory over a CCSA opponent.

Along with opening the season receiving votes in the AVCA Top 20 national poll, the Blazers found themselves receiving votes for five weeks during the season, which was the first time UAB had ever been in the national poll.

Iannone oversaw the development of Kenley Adams and Devon May as UAB’s top duo. May was a graduate transfer from Canada and paired with Adams as the two finished the season as the nation’s No. 28 ranked pair. Throughout the season, Adams and May notched victories over nationally-ranked opponents Tulane, South Carolina and FIU. The victory over FIU came against the nation’s fourth-ranked pair on court one.

Iannone will also have brand new state-of-the-art five-court facility at her disposal in year two as the UAB Department of Athletics broke ground on the new courts in June and are expected to be completed in December of 2018, giving UAB one of the nicest beach volleyball facilities in the country.

Prior to UAB, Iannone spent the 2016-17 season at the University of Arizona as the assistant coach. The Wildcats finished with a 17-10 overall record and placed fourth in the highly competitive PAC-12.

Iannone helped UA's top duo of Madison and McKenna Witt play to a 21-8 record and reach the semifinals of the pairs bracket at the PAC-12 Tournament. As a team, Arizona spent the majority of the season ranked in the AVCA national poll.

Before Arizona, Iannone had a successful 13-year run as the founder and director of Canada's first high performance beach volleyball club, Sideout Beach Volleyball Club.

Her breadth of experience on the international scene includes head coaching experience of Canadian teams that competed in the World Championships, Canada Summer Games, Western Canada Games, and the British Columbia Summer Games.

A native of White Rock, British Columbia, Iannone started Sideout Beach Volleyball Club in 2004 and has seen it rise to levels of unprecedented international accomplishments.

Her Sideout Club's rise to prominence included coaching both male and female athletes to multiple national Canadian titles. Additionally, she constructed a footprint on the international beach volleyball scene with her Canadian athletes, which includes winning the FIVB World Championships on both the men's and women's side (once each).

This past summer at the FIVB World Championships in Hong Kong, Iannone led Nicole and Megan McNamara to a Gold Medal, the first for Canada on the women’s side.

Prior to her time in Arizona, Iannone was a special education and physical education teacher at the Surrey School District and the head coach of the Douglas College women's indoor team, in addition to her duties at Sideout Beach Volleyball Club.

Iannones' record of strong player development, history of working with Olympic caliber athletes, and innate ability to work well with players brings immeasurable value to the beach program.