Alexa Keckler enters Middle Tennessee as the 13th head coach in program history, bringing 20 years of collegiate head coaching experience and more than 320 career wins.
Keckler previously spent seven years at Lehigh, leading the Mountain Hawks to the 2024 Patriot League Tournament and their first postseason win since 2014. She also guided the program to a 20-8 record in her debut season—their best start in school history—and multiple All-Patriot League and Academic honorees.
Prior to Lehigh, Keckler served eight seasons as head coach at Muhlenberg College, where she turned a last-place team into a conference contender. Under her leadership, the Mules won 20+ matches three times, advanced to consecutive Centennial Conference championship matches (2013–14), earned national poll votes, and produced the program’s first All-American in a decade. She compiled a 141-96 (.595) record at Muhlenberg.
Keckler began her collegiate head coaching career at Gettysburg College (2003–07), where she went 96-55 (.636), captured the 2005 Centennial Conference Championship, and advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals. She ranks among the top coaches in Centennial Conference history with 237 career wins across her Gettysburg and Muhlenberg tenures.
Across her 20-year collegiate career, Keckler has coached multiple All-Americans, All-Region, All-Conference, and Academic All-America selections. She holds a master’s degree in human performance, a USA Volleyball CAP 2 certification, and has directed the Mid-Maryland Volleyball Camp since 1996.
Keckler and her husband, Darryl, have four children: Olivia, Camryn, Mallory, and Maddox.
Sarah Gomish was named the Associate Head Volleyball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Middle Tennessee in March of 2025.
“I am elated for Sarah to join our staff here at MTSU,” stated Head Coach Alexa Keckler. “Sarah brings a lot of recruiting experience and knowledge that will greatly benefit our vision. She is a passionate coach in the gym and a colleague that I am beyond excited to work with again.”
Previously, Gomish was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech. Gomish spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach at Lehigh University. In her time with the Mountain Hawks, she mentored two all-league selections, as outside hitter Megan Schulte and middle blocker Emily Stewart were named to the All-Patriot League second team in 2022.
Prior to joining Lehigh, Gomish spent one season with Fairleigh Dickinson as an assistant coach, mentoring the Knights’ first All-NEC First Team selection in a decade in outside hitter, Victoria Demmene, as Demmene finished with 148 kills in eleven matches in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Her first coaching experience came as a graduate assistant at her alma mater, Bloomsburg University, a Division II program in Pennsylvania. While mentored by Gomish in her only season with the Huskies as a coach, libero Alyssa Cianciulli garnered All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) honors, along with honors from the AVCA and Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA).
Gomish spent her final season as a collegiate player with Bloomsburg. In the Huskies’ first year as a collegiate program, she led the team in kills (328) and points (349), also finishing second in total digs (289). The first three seasons of Gomish’s college career were spent at Lock Haven, totaling 867 kills and 757 digs with the Bald Eagles.
Aaron Hastings was named assistant volleyball coach at Middle Tennessee in March 2025.
Hastings joins MTSU after three seasons at Belmont University, where he helped the Bruins achieve their first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament appearance since joining the league in 2023, securing their first postseason win since 2015 and recording their best season since 2017. He contributed to the development of standout athletes, including libero Rachel McBride, who posted 451 digs—the most in the program since 2013—and guided hitters Kristen Clemons and Laura Shoopman to surpass 300 kills each, with Clemons earning MVC Player of the Week honors.
Before Belmont, Hastings was an assistant coach at North Texas in 2021, helping the Mean Green finish third in Conference USA and qualify for the conference tournament. He also coached at Akron, mentoring libero Taylor Sharrits to the program’s first MAC Defensive Player of the Year award in 2020–21, while the team ranked second nationally in service aces and seventh in digs.
Hastings’ earlier experience includes serving as Director of Volleyball Operations at West Virginia (2013–2020) and Ohio State (2011–2013), overseeing operations, recruiting, analytics, academics, and program budgets.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Middle Tennessee is the only program in Conference USA to earn the AVCA Team Academic Award eight years in a row.
" Here at MTSU we are proud of our student-athletes for being able to juggle a full academic load and D1 volleyball. Excellence in the classroom is a standard that all our athletes must meet. We have so many resources for our students to be successful and are proud of our players for prioritizing STUDENT first! " - Head Coach Alexa Keckler
2025 season in review
ACCOLADES
Caroline Macander & Raegan Durbin – Both were named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association volleyball players of the week during the 2025 season
Raegan Durbin – All-Freshman Team. She led Middle Tennessee with 339 kills (3.20 per set). She posted three 24+ kill matches, including a career-high 26, the best by a freshman in CUSA this season. Durbin added 10 double-doubles, a team-high 37 aces, and was named CUSA Freshman of the Week on September 29, while ranking top 10 in CUSA for kills, points, and aces. Durbin also earned Conference Freshman of the Week honors
BLUE RAIDERS IN THE PROS
Four Blue Raiders have turned pro during the last decade at Middle Tennessee State University.
Laure Jansen from the 2024 Blue Raider team is playing professionally at Évreux Volley-Ball in France for the 2025-2026 season
ALL-AMERICANS
The 'Boro has seen 9 AVCA All-American and 14 AVCA All-Region nods in the last 17 years. Ashley Asberry and Ashley E. Adams both received the All-American honor multiple times as they pushed their teams to a few NCAA Tournament appearances. The Middle Tennessee All-American honors spread out to outside hitters, middle blockers, and setters.
FACILITIES
ON-CAMPUS LIVING
OFF-CAMPUS LIVING
MURFREESBORO
The 'Boro holds a population of 152,769 according to the 2020 census. Murfreesboro is the largest suburb of the Nashville metropolitan area, and is located 34 miles southeast of downtown Nashville.
The city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee ranked number one on SmartAsset's top ten list of “fastest-growing cities” in America (2021). The booming city was also named to Southern Living's the 'South’s Best College Towns’ list for it's "small-town charm" (2016).
MTSU is only a short trip away from numerous parks across the Middle and Eastern parts of Tennessee.
It's located close to many breathtaking areas like the Great Smoky Mountains, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Old Stone Fort, Treetop Skywalk, David Crockett State Park, Rock Island State Park and countless others.
NASHVILLE
You won't find a city more accommodating, authentic, and accessible than Music City. Nashville has a population of 689,447, the most populous in the state of Tennessee and only located 34 miles north of Murfreesboro. The metro area of Nashville is approximated at a population of 2,000,000.
There are countless things to do and visit in Nashville, including the Grand Ole Opry, Broadway, Music Row, Nashville Zoo, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and attending games for professional teams like the Tennessee Titans, Nashville Predators, and Nashville SC.