Alexa Wharton - Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator - Women's Volleyball Coaches

Alexa Wharton

Title:
Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Email:
Alexa.W@memphis.edu

Alexa Wharton is in her third season with the University of Memphis volleyball program in 2020, and has been with head coach Sean Burdette every step in building a vision for the Tigers. Wharton, the program’s assistant coach/recruiting coordinator, joined the UofM family after spending the 2017 season on Burdette’s staff at Green Bay.

In her time at Memphis, Wharton has played a major role in the program’s turnaround, helping the Tigers improve their win total from 10 victories the season before she joined Burdette’s staff (2017) to 17 in 2019. The 17 wins were the program’s most since 2015.

Among the UofM’s accomplishments in 2019 was the program’s best start to a season in school history. The Tigers opened 2019 with an 11-0 record, and Memphis was one of the last five remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I volleyball.

In addition, the Tigers brought home three in-season tournament crowns for the first time since 2011 and won six of their final 10 matches, including road victories at ECU and Wichita State. Memphis wrapped up the season with a home sweep of Tulane, a top-65 RPI team.

Wharton helped Burdette put together a 2018 squad – despite having a late start and inheriting small numbers – that played an exciting brand of volleyball and showed glimpses of the program’s future.

Memphis won its first true road match of the Burdette era at Ole Miss, a thrilling 3-2 victory over the 2017 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) champion. Later in the campaign, the Tigers pulled out a come-from-behind 3-2 home win over ECU after trailing the match 2-0. In that victory over ECU, Kelsea Bivins downed 33 kills, the most by a Tigers player since 1995.

A setter during her playing career, Wharton helped mentor setters that had 1,000 assists seasons in back-to-back campaigns. It was the first time Memphis had consecutive seasons with a 1,000-assists setter since 2013 and 2014. Sabrina Bianco’s 1,136 assists in 2019 were the most by a Tiger since 2014.

Wharton’s work on the offensive side of the net has paid immediate dividends. The Tigers moved up seven spots in assists per set from 2017 (season before Wharton’s arrival) to 2019. The team’s increase in assists has helped improve other areas of the offense, with Memphis moving up in hitting percentage five spots and kills per set seven positions in the league’s statistical leaders.

Wharton’s efforts on the recruiting trail have been pivotal in building the UofM program. As the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator, Wharton helped Memphis pull in a talented 2019 class that earned High Honorable Mention accolades from PrepVolleyball.com.

In Wharton’s time, the Tigers also have performed well in the classroom. The 2018 squad earned an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, and 11 players from that team were named to the 2018-19 American Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll. All four seniors on the 2018 team graduated in May 2019.

Wharton moved to the Bluff City from Green Bay, where she served on Burdette’s staff for one season.

At Green Bay, Wharton helped direct the Phoenix to a 17-16 overall record, including a 9-7 Horizon League mark. Green Bay came on strong in the 2017 postseason with a 4-2 record, advancing to the Horizon League championship match and the NIVC quarterfinal round.

Wharton also played a major role in player development at Green Bay. She helped coach two All-Horizon League first team picks (Lydia DeWeese, Taylor Wolf), two Horizon League All-Freshman Team selections (Roberta Todd, Wolf) and an All-Horizon League honorable mention performer (Maddie Yoss). Wolf also was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year.

In addition, DeWeese wrapped up her collegiate career with 1,042 kills and a program-record .353 hitting percentage, and she also led the conference in hitting percentage (.339) in 2017. Yoss led the Horizon League in assists (1,330) and ranked 16^th nationally in assists per set (11.38) in 2017.

Prior to her time in Green Bay, Wharton served as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III powerhouse University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Wharton was a member of the staff that guided the Warhawks to an undefeated home record (32-0), one Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular-season title (2015), back-to-back WIAC Tournament crowns and consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearances over those two campaigns. UW-Whitewater advanced to the 2016 NCAA Division III Sweet 16.

The Warhawks, ranked No. 1 in the Midwest Region, were selected to host the NCAA Division III Region Championship both seasons. Wharton assisted in the event management of the regionals.

As the Warhawks assistant that worked with setting/defense, Wharton helped develop AVCA All-Americans at both setter and libero. Before her time at UW-Whitewater, Wharton served as a graduate assistant at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, for the 2014 campaign.

Wharton was a volleyball student-athlete at Heidelberg from 2010-13. A four-year starter at setter, Wharton helped lead The 'Berg to three Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) crowns in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2012. She was an All-OAC honoree in 2013 and finished her career in the No. 6 spot on Heidelberg's all-time assists chart.

Wharton, a Tiffin native, graduated from Heidelberg with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology in May 2014. She earned her Master of Science in education from UW-Whitewater in May 2017.