Sasha Karelov
Head Coach: 4th Year
Years as Head Coach: 4th Year
Sasha Karelov is in her fourth season as head coach of the Cowgirls, being named head coach in January (2022).
McNeese posted a 10-18 overall record and a 6-10 SLC record in 2024, a season that saw McNeese narrowly missing the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time under Karelov.
Despite not making the SLC Tournament, Karelov coached two All-SLC, All-Louisiana, and SLC All-Academic selections in McKenzie Moore and Bailey Tillman.
Both players ended their career reaching milestones. Moore ended her career with 1,007 kills while Tillman ended her career ranked second in program history with 1,841 digs.
Karelov led the Cowgirls to a third place finish in the Southland Conference in 2023 with a 13-5 record and guided the Cowgirls to the SLC Tournament for the second straight season.
In her second season (2023), the Cowgirls ended the regular season winning eight of its last 11 matches and advanced to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament for the second straight year.
Also under Karelov in 2023, Bailey Tillman became the first McNeee volleyball player to earn All-American honors when she was named to the VolleyMag.com All-American Team. Tillman also pick up her 1,000th career dig, was named the SLC's "Libero of the Year as well as being named Louisiana "Libero of the Year" for the second straight year, and was named to the AVCA All-Region Team. Karelov also produced the Southland 's "Freshman of the Year" for the second straight year in Tshilanda Diouf.
In her first season at the helm of the Cowgirls, Karelov led a Cowgirl squad who led the nation in digs per set (18.53), an 18-16 overall record, a 13-5 Southland Conference record (tied for 2nd), and advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 Southland Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed.
Karelov coached the 2022 Southland Conference "Freshman of the Year" in Sanni Rantanen and the program's first AVCA All-Region selection and the Louisiana "Libero of the Year" in Bailey Tillman.
The former Duke and Long Beach State volleyball standout spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi where she helped the Islanders to the 2021 regular season title, back-to-back Southland Conference Tournament champions (2020, 2021) and NCAA Tournament appearances.
While with the Islanders, Karelov coached both the two-time SLC Setter of the Year and SLC Libero of the Year in Faith Panhans and Carissa Barnes. Barnes also led the nation in digs per set. In 2020 she helped the Islanders to a Top 5 in kills and Top 15 in hitting percent in the nation.
In addition while at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Karelov coached 12 All-SLC selections, 10 SLC All-Academic selections, six SLC All-Tournament selections and five AVCA All-Region selections.
While at Duke, Karelov earned AVCA All-America honors and was a three-time AVCA All-East Coast Region selection. She earned All-ACC honors three times and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. In four seasons for the Blue Devils, Karelov tallied 2,023 digs which ranks her third in career digs, 373 assists and 76 service aces in 123 career matches. She became just the third Duke player to ever surpass 2,000 digs and still holds the single match program record with 44 digs (vs. Notre Dame/2016).
After graduating from Duke in December of 2016 with her Bachelors in Public Policy Studies, Karelov transferred to Long Beach State where she was a two-time first team All-Big West performer in beach volleyball. She graduated from Long Beach State in 2018 with her Master's in Kinesiology.
Karelov also competed on the AVP Professional Beach Volleyball Tour where she qualified for two main draws- AVP Huntington and AVP Hermosa in 2019.
Karelov also worked at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences as the Girls Indoor/Beach Volleyball Program Director in Santa Monica, Calif. During the 2017-18 year, she was an assistant coach at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif., while she finished her master’s degree. Karelov also coached for the Triangle Volleyball Club, the Orange County Volleyball Club, and the Actyve Volleyball Club.
COACHING HIGHLIGHTS
Head Coach (McNeese)
• Led the nation in digs per set (18.53 dps./2022)
• 2023 VolleyMag.com All-American (Bailey Tillman/Hon. Mention)
• 2023 Southland Conference Libero of the Year (Bailey Tillman)
• 2023 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year (Tshilanda Diouf)
• 2022 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year (Sanni Rantanen)
• 2022, 2023 Louisiana Libero of the Year (Bailey Tillman)
• Two AVCA All-Region (Bailey Tillman-1st team/2023; honorable mention/2022)
• One VolleyMag.com All-American, Eight All-Conference, two SLC All-Tournament, two AVCA All-Region, five SLC All-Academic, 34 SLC Commissioner's Honor Roll
• AVCA Team Academic Award (2022, 2023)
Assistant Coach (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
• 2021 Southland Conference Regular Season Champions
• 2021 and 2020 Southland Conference Tournament Champions
• 2021 Player, Setter, and Libero of the Year - Libero leads country in digs per set
• 2020 Setter and Libero of the Year
• 2020 team was top 5 in kills per set / top 15 in hitting percentage in nation
• 2019 Setter and Freshman of the Year
• 12 All-Conference, 6 SLC All-Tournament selections, 5 All-Region, and 10 All-Academic selections
• Back-to-back AVCA Team Academic Awards, CoSIDA 1st-Team All-American
COLLEGIATE PLAYING CAREER
Duke
• Member of Division I indoor volleyball team as libero
• Three-time All-ACC
• AVCA All-Region
• 2016 ACC Defensive Player of the Year
• AVCA All-American
Long Beach State
• Member of Division I beach volleyball team as graduate student transfer
• Two-time All-Big West
PROFESSIONAL PLAYING CAREER
Competed on AVP Professional Beach Volleyball Tour - Qualified for two Main
Draws in 2019 at AVP Huntington and AVP Hermosa
Overall Conf. Conf. Postseason Other
Year Record Record Finish |
2022 18-16 13-5 T-2nd SLC Tourn. semifinals Led nation in digs per set
2023 16-17 13-5 3rd SLC Tourn. semifinals First VB All-American (Bailey Tillman)
2024 10-18 6-10 9th - |
| Career 44-51 32-20 |
