MURFREESBORO – Alexa Keckler, a veteran with 20 years of collegiate head coaching experience, will be Middle Tennessee's new women's volleyball coach as announced by Director of Athletics Chris Massaro on Friday. Keckler becomes the 13^th head coach in MTSU volleyball history.
 
"Alexa quickly rose through the interview process, and the committee was very impressed with her and her accomplishments at Lehigh," said Massaro. "Her maturity as a head coach was evident. Given the status of our program, she fits our needs extremely well, and we look forward to working with her for a long time."
 
Keckler comes to MTSU following seven years as the head coach at Lehigh, where she led the program to a 16-13 record in 2024 and a trip to the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh upset No. 3 seed American in the quarterfinals for their first postseason win since 2014.
 
"I am incredibly excited and grateful to accept the position of head volleyball coach at MTSU," said Keckler. "Chris (Massaro) and the entire search committee have been so wonderful throughout this process, and with each step, I could see how much our values align for MTSU volleyball. I look forward to joining the Blue Raider community and achieving great success together!"
 
In 2023, Keckler's squad began the season with an 8-3 record over their first 11 matches, including wins over BIG EAST opponents UConn and Villanova and a win at UConn's tournament in early September. Megan Schulte earned a spot on the first team All-Patriot League squad, while Madison McCartney was named to the Academic All-Patriot League team.
 
The 2022 season saw Keckler's Mountain Hawks start hot, going 8-2 over their first 10 matches, including a tournament title at the season-opening FAU Invitational. Megan Schulte and Emily Stewart delivered strong sophomore campaigns and were rewarded with second team All-Patriot League honors.
 
In 2019, Keckler led the Mountain Hawks to their first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2017. Under her guidance, senior Emily Poole and junior Hannah Wright earned Second Team All-Patriot League selections for the second consecutive season. Senior Lauren Bright was named an Academic All-Patriot League honoree for the second season in a row.
 
During her first season at the helm, Keckler led the Mountain Hawks to a 20-8 overall record and had the program's best start to a season at 11-1 entering Patriot League play.
 
Before taking the Lehigh job, Keckler was head coach at Muhlenberg College for eight years.
 
At Muhlenberg, Keckler's teams reflected her commitment to recruiting nationally, high academic achievement, community service, and competitive consistency. In addition to team successes, Muhlenberg volleyball student-athletes earned All-America, All-Region, and All-Centennial Conference recognition, and Academic All-America and All-District honors.
 
Competitively, Keckler compiled a record of 141-96 (.595) at Muhlenberg and owns an overall mark of 324-243 (.571) in her 20 seasons at the collegiate level. Before Muhlenberg, Keckler spent five seasons at fellow Centennial Conference member Gettysburg College, where she won a conference title and led the Bullets to five straight postseason appearances.
 
Keckler ranks third in Centennial Conference history with 88 wins in conference matches and fifth with seven wins in conference postseason matches. She accumulated 237 total wins at Gettysburg and Muhlenberg, which ranks eighth in Centennial history.
 
Just three seasons after tying for last place in the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg won 20 matches and advanced to the conference championship match for the first time in 12 years in 2013. The following season, Keckler led the Mules to the championship match again in a landmark season that saw the program win 25 matches, set the school record for the longest winning streak (13), receive votes in the national poll for the first time and crown its first All-American in 10 years.
 
Inheriting a young, rebuilding team in 2010, Keckler began her stint at Muhlenberg with a 6-21 record and capped off her tenure with a 24-6 campaign in 2017. In her final season, Keckler led the program to its highest-ever NCAA regional ranking (fifth) and once again had the Mules receiving votes in the national poll.
 
Before arriving at Muhlenberg in 2010, Keckler spent five years as head coach at Gettysburg, where she compiled a record of 96-55 (.636), including a record of 40-10 (.800) in Centennial play. The Bullets posted at least 18 wins in her five seasons and captured their league-best 11th Centennial Conference Championship in 2005. During Keckler's tenure, Gettysburg reached the conference championship match three times and advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals in 2005.
 
In her 13 seasons at Gettysburg and Muhlenberg, Keckler coached two All-Americans, two All-Region selections, 35 All-Centennial Conference selections, the 2013 Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, a 2016 Centennial Conference Volleyball Scholar-Athlete Award recipient, two Academic All-Centennial selections, three CoSIDA academic All-District selections, and two CoSIDA Academic All-America selections.
 
Before entering the college coaching ranks, Keckler piloted her alma mater of Smithsburg (Md.) High School to an 18-2 record in 2002 and guided Littlestown (Pa.) High School to an 18-5 mark and a district playoff appearance in 2004. Between those assignments, she served as head coach of the Tri-State FCA Volleyball Club's 15-and-under girls' team, leading that squad to a 49-25 record in 2003-04.
 
An all-region most valuable player and junior college All-American at Hagerstown Community College, Keckler earned her associate degree in 1998 before graduating from Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University with a bachelor's degree in sports and exercise science in 2000. She was a two-year letter winner in the TNU volleyball program, earning TranSouth Athletic Conference academic honors for both seasons.
 
She acquired a master's degree in human performance from Frostburg State University in 2002 and has CAP 2 coaching certification from USA Volleyball. In addition to her coaching duties, she has been the Mid-Maryland Volleyball Camp director since 1996.
 
Keckler and her husband, Moravian University men's basketball head coach Darryl Keckler, have three daughters, Olivia, Camryn, and Mallory, and a son, Maddox.