Alex Dunphy was named associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Auburn volleyball program in February of 2020. She enters her third season as part of Brent Crouch’s staff in 2022. She works primarily with Auburn’s setters and with the Tigers at the service line.
During the 2021 season, Dunphy helped Auburn to a 13-15 overall record, the most program wins since 2017. The Tigers finished 5-13 in SEC play, picking up the most wins since 2018. Auburn opened the season with 17 consecutive set victories to tie the program record for most sweeps to begin a season with five, matching a feat first accomplished by the 1974 team. Auburn’s 6-0 start to the season was its best start since 2012.
The Tigers’ season was highlighted by a two-match sweep of Alabama, marking the first time Auburn has won back-to-back SEC matches since 2018. Auburn earned its first victory over Missouri in league action and its first overall win in the series since 1996. Auburn also edged out Texas A&M, 3-2, to earn the program’s first victory in College Station.
Auburn won a program record six total SEC weekly honors, splitting three on offense and three on defense. Individually, the Tigers also set nine individual records during the 2021 campaign.
Dunphy guided Jackie Barrett to a standout sophomore-season performance as the setter led the team with 16 double-double performances. Barrett closed the season with 809 total assists, the seventh most in a season at Auburn during the rally-scoring era. Barrett averaged 8.09 assists per set, ranking eighth in the single-season annuals.
In her first season at Auburn, Dunphy coached the Tigers in a total of eight matches as the fall season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dunphy help freshman Jackie Barrett to a 7.58 assists per set average. She was the only freshman to close the fall season ranked in the top 10 in the Southeastern Conference in assists.
The fall season was highlighted by Auburn setting the program record for blocks in a four-set match as the Tigers recorded 17 at South Carolina on Oct. 29, 2020. The previous mark of 14 was set on Nov. 9, 2014 against Tennessee. The total tied for the second-most blocks in a match in Auburn program history as was the most by the Tigers since 2009.
Due to injuries and opt-out, the Tigers were unable to compete in the spring portion of the amended 2020-21 schedule.
Dunphy spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at USC, serving as a member of Crouch’s staff. As a student-athlete, she was a member of the 2003 NCAA champion USC squad.
During her time at USC, Dunphy helped the program to consecutive NCAA second round appearances, including a second-place finish in the Pac-12, and a No. 21 ranking in the season’s final AVCA poll in her first season on the coaching staff in 2018. This past season, the Trojans finished 18-14 with the 2nd strongest schedule in the country.
Before joining the Women of Troy, Dunphy served as the assistant director of operations and video coordinator at Minnesota in 2017.
Prior to her time with the Golden Gopher, Dunphy served as an assistant coach at Pepperdine for three seasons. She also served as an assistant coach at Miami in 2013. With the Hurricanes, she trained the setters and assisted with recruiting, practice planning and video breakdown. Miami closed the season with a 19-12 overall record and earned its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Prior to her first assistant coaching appointment at Miami, Dunphy held the office of director of operations with the Pepperdine men’s volleyball program.
Dunphy has extensive experience with USA Volleyball. In July of 2021, Dunphy served as an assistant coach for USA Volleyball U15/16 National Team Development Program. She also added a stint as an assistant coach for USA Volleyball U16/U17 National Team Development Program in December of 2021. In December 2019, Dunphy served as an assistant coach for the Girls Youth Holiday Training Program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She served as the technical coordinator for the USAV Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2017 when the squad competed in Thailand and was an assistant coach for the 2016 USAV Collegiate National Team that competed in China. Dunphy also served as the Head of Delegation for the 2012 U.S. Women's Junior National Team during the squad's run at the NORCECA U20 Continental Championship in Managua Nicaragua. That year, Team USA won bronze medals and earned a bid to the 2013 FIVB Women's Junior Continental Championship.
Dunphy graduated from USC with a degree in communication from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2007. She was a member of the Women of Troy for two seasons (2003-04). Dunphy earned her master's degree in communication from Pepperdine in 2015.
Dunphy grew up in Malibu, Calif., and is the daughter of Hall of Fame coach Dr. Marv Dunphy who headed the men’s program at Pepperdine for four decades and has won multiple medals as a member of the USA Men’s and Women's National Team coaching staff, including the gold medals at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.