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Allison Magner was introduced as the newest assistant for the Catamount volleyball program on June 23, 2005. Magner, who began her playing career at North Carolina State before transferring to the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), led her alma mater to its first winning season in eight years as the Blazers' interim head coach in 2004.
With only nine players , Magner, who was the second-youngest head coach in Division I collegiate volleyball, and co-interim head coach Nikola Petrovic led UAB to a 14-13 record, snapping an eight-year slide of sub-.500 finishes. After tallying just one victory during the 2004 season, the Magner-led 2005 UAB volleyball squad turned things around for the greatest single-season improvement in school history with 14 wins including eight consecutive victories to open the season.
A native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Magner spent two seasons with the N.C. State Wolfpack volleyball team, seeing limited action as a freshman in 1999 and finishing with 34 kills and 103 digs for a 1.37 dig per game average as a sophomore in 2000. She also had 16 total blocks playing in 75 games of 25 matches with the `Pack. She transferred to UAB and was a two-year letter winner for the Blazers in 2001 and 2002, leading UAB in blocks per game (1.05), total blocks (100) and block assists (87) during her senior year. Magner recorded 18 matches with double-digit kills during her two-year career at UAB, graduating with a degree in marketing and a minor in international business. She also completed her MBA at UAB in the summer of 2006.
After two years in the private sector working as a marketing assistant, Magner returned to UAB in May of 2004 as an assistant coach for the Blazers. In addition to assisting with on-the-floor coaching for former head coach Melinda Claiborne, Magner worked primarily with the middle blockers. She was also involved in practice planning, recruiting, event management, equipment, team travel, summer camps and team marketing, all of which made her a viable option for the interim head position in 2005 when Claiborne resigned.
