By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
There have been special moments in Tina Readling’s post-playing career in college volleyball.
She’s hoping there are more to come.
Readling, a Haw River native who graduated from Alamance Christian School, was hired during the offseason as an assistant coach for women’s volleyball at Wake Forest.
She’s fresh off a national championship experience at Penn State, where she spent three seasons as director of operations with the Nittany Lions.
Returning to a coaching capacity had always been a goal.
“I was planning to go back to coaching, but what an honor to be part of that (at Penn State),” Readling said. “I’m not done with coaching.”
She joined first-year coach Jeff Hulsmeyer’s staff at Wake Forest in February, bringing her back closer to home.
It’s giving her an opportunity on another level.
“This is the very first job I’ve had that I get to focus on coaching and recruiting – things I absolutely love doing,” she said.
So this will be yet another experience in the sport when the Demon Deacons begin their season next month.
Readling called the time with Penn State rewarding on numerous levels. She found State College, Pennsylvania, to her liking.
“I would have never thought moving up to become a Northerner, it was like a slice of Southern hospitality,” she said.
The range of duties was widespread at Penn State, which won the 2024 national championship by defeating Louisville in December. Kate Schumacher-Cawley of the Nittany Lions became the first female head coach to win a Division I volleyball championship.
With Penn State, Readling filled in as an assistant when health issues on staff necessitated adjustments as well as handling “all the behind-the-scenes stuff,” she said.
This all added up to special moments.
“I was in practices and got to help,” Readling said. “(Schumaker-Cawley) knew the reason I came there was with the goal of getting back to coaching.”
Before going to Penn State, Readling was a 10-year member of Elon’s coaching staff. Previously, she spent 2010 as a volunteer assistant at Elon and 2011 in a similar capacity at Duke.
After graduating in 1995 from ACS, she went on to Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, playing volleyball and basketball as a freshman and then concentrating on volleyball. She was the college’s Female Athlete of the Year as a senior.
Then it was back to Graham, where she spent 11 years at ACS as an English teacher and coach. She was Tina Johnson before marrying Josh Readling, also an ACS alum.
The Readlings’ interests extend beyond volleyball. They started Garden Valley Farmers Market, which has locations in Burlington, Graham, Haw River, and Greensboro.
“My husband’s passion is hunting and gardening,” she said.
Tina Readling said being so tied into the Alamance County area makes it ideal to be coaching in the Triad.
“It was a blessing to be able to come back to this area,” she said. “. . . You’re going from a national championship to a team that has never been to the NCAA Tournament.”
She said there are similarities between the Elon and Wake Forest programs in terms of the athletics departments and volleyball teams seeking to be on the rise.
Readling said the role at Wake Forest already has been enriching as the Demon Deacons try to make headway in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
She didn’t know Hulsmeyer prior to the hiring process, but there were several common connections. Two assistants – Sherisa Livingston and Todd Garvey – on the Wake Forest staff have past Division I head coaching experience.
“Everybody on staff sees things and gets it done,” he said. “That type of staff really sets you up for success.”
