Andre Foster, Alexis Meeks-Rydell
Steve Florio Announces Women's Volleyball Staff
6/1/2021 9:56:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Purdue Fort Wayne women's volleyball head coach Steve Florio has announced his coaching staff for the 2021 season. The Mastodons welcome Alexis Meeks-Rydell, who will serve as the assistant coach, and Andre Foster, who will fill the graduate assistant spot.
Alexis Meeks-Rydell comes to Fort Wayne after spending four seasons as a head coach, the last two of which were spent at Division I South Alabama. The Leo, Indiana native led the Jaguars to a 20-11 record in her first season as head coach, which was the program's best record in 30 years. She also pushed the team to a record 15 home wins, including 14 in a row. Under her leadership, she had one First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection and three Second Team honorees. She also recruited and developed the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020.
Prior to her time at South Alabama, Meeks-Rydell was the head coach at Division II West Alabama for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. She was promoted to the head coach after serving as the top assistant coach in 2016. She developed the program's first AVCA All-America selection and led the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament in 2018. She was named the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year for her efforts. Prior to this, Meeks-Rydell was a graduate assistant coach for Division II Augustana, where she helped the Vikings to an 18-10 record.
Meeks-Rydell played four years at IUPUI from 2010-13, where she still holds the all-time assists record in Jaguar history with 4,049. This mark ranks 12th in Summit League History. She was named the Summit League Setter of the Year in 2013 and the Offensive Player of the Week twice. She was also the MVP of the Summit League Championship in 2013. She led IUPUI to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013 after winning the Summit League title by knocking off Denver.
"I am thrilled to have Alexis join our staff," Florio said. "I have known her for a long time and have enjoyed watching her grow with great success in this sport as both a player and coach. The fit couldn't be better. It's a wonderful opportunity for Alexis to get back home, and an incredibly fortunate opportunity for us to add someone with as much experience and professionalism as she has. It's not every day that you get to add someone to your staff that has been a successful head coach at the NCAA Division I and II level. Alexis will have an immediate impact in several areas including sharpening our offense and recruiting. As a former Setter of the Year in the Summit League, she has a strong ability to train setters and develop an offense. Given that we were a top offense in the Horizon League in our spring 2021 season, it's exciting to think what heights our offense will achieve under her watch. Alexis is also a proven recruiter having recruited several Freshmen of the Year award winners in her time as a head coach at both the DI and DII levels. Further, she has strong ties to our local volleyball clubs which will be very helpful in continuing to have local players on our roster that love to represent their hometown. Since I always want to add local talent to our team, this was especially appealing. Most importantly, Alexis is a wonderful person of the highest character who shares a similar vision as I do of the lofty goals of excellence for our program, and the type of healthy culture we have and wish to perpetuate. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome her back to Fort Wayne and into our Mastodon volleyball family."
Andre Foster comes to the Summit City after a stint as a volunteer assistant coach at UC Davis. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aggies were unable to compete in 2020. Foster graduated from Division III Nichols College, where he played for two seasons after transferring from Division I Charleston and Division III Mount Ida.
A Davis, California native, Foster led the Bison of Nichols while finishing in the top 10 in the New England Collegiate Conference in blocks. He was a two-time all-conference honoree at Davis Senior High School.
"Andre will be a fantastic addition to our staff," Florio said. "He has a great enthusiasm and a wonderful energy about him which will add to our fun and hardworking environment in our gym. He is a good person who will positively contribute to our healthy culture. As a former middle hitter at the collegiate level, he'll be able to work with our middles as well as our blockers overall. Andre also had the good fortune of working with the great staff at UC Davis last year, so he's been given a good foundation in the women's game by Coach Conners and his staff. I'm very happy to welcome Andre to our Mastodon volleyball family."
Meeks-Rydell and Foster will join Florio to lead the Mastodons in their second season in the Horizon League in the fall of 2021.
Alexis Meeks-Rydell comes to Fort Wayne after spending four seasons as a head coach, the last two of which were spent at Division I South Alabama. The Leo, Indiana native led the Jaguars to a 20-11 record in her first season as head coach, which was the program's best record in 30 years. She also pushed the team to a record 15 home wins, including 14 in a row. Under her leadership, she had one First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection and three Second Team honorees. She also recruited and developed the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020.
Prior to her time at South Alabama, Meeks-Rydell was the head coach at Division II West Alabama for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. She was promoted to the head coach after serving as the top assistant coach in 2016. She developed the program's first AVCA All-America selection and led the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament in 2018. She was named the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year for her efforts. Prior to this, Meeks-Rydell was a graduate assistant coach for Division II Augustana, where she helped the Vikings to an 18-10 record.
Meeks-Rydell played four years at IUPUI from 2010-13, where she still holds the all-time assists record in Jaguar history with 4,049. This mark ranks 12th in Summit League History. She was named the Summit League Setter of the Year in 2013 and the Offensive Player of the Week twice. She was also the MVP of the Summit League Championship in 2013. She led IUPUI to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013 after winning the Summit League title by knocking off Denver.
"I am thrilled to have Alexis join our staff," Florio said. "I have known her for a long time and have enjoyed watching her grow with great success in this sport as both a player and coach. The fit couldn't be better. It's a wonderful opportunity for Alexis to get back home, and an incredibly fortunate opportunity for us to add someone with as much experience and professionalism as she has. It's not every day that you get to add someone to your staff that has been a successful head coach at the NCAA Division I and II level. Alexis will have an immediate impact in several areas including sharpening our offense and recruiting. As a former Setter of the Year in the Summit League, she has a strong ability to train setters and develop an offense. Given that we were a top offense in the Horizon League in our spring 2021 season, it's exciting to think what heights our offense will achieve under her watch. Alexis is also a proven recruiter having recruited several Freshmen of the Year award winners in her time as a head coach at both the DI and DII levels. Further, she has strong ties to our local volleyball clubs which will be very helpful in continuing to have local players on our roster that love to represent their hometown. Since I always want to add local talent to our team, this was especially appealing. Most importantly, Alexis is a wonderful person of the highest character who shares a similar vision as I do of the lofty goals of excellence for our program, and the type of healthy culture we have and wish to perpetuate. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome her back to Fort Wayne and into our Mastodon volleyball family."
Andre Foster comes to the Summit City after a stint as a volunteer assistant coach at UC Davis. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aggies were unable to compete in 2020. Foster graduated from Division III Nichols College, where he played for two seasons after transferring from Division I Charleston and Division III Mount Ida.
A Davis, California native, Foster led the Bison of Nichols while finishing in the top 10 in the New England Collegiate Conference in blocks. He was a two-time all-conference honoree at Davis Senior High School.
"Andre will be a fantastic addition to our staff," Florio said. "He has a great enthusiasm and a wonderful energy about him which will add to our fun and hardworking environment in our gym. He is a good person who will positively contribute to our healthy culture. As a former middle hitter at the collegiate level, he'll be able to work with our middles as well as our blockers overall. Andre also had the good fortune of working with the great staff at UC Davis last year, so he's been given a good foundation in the women's game by Coach Conners and his staff. I'm very happy to welcome Andre to our Mastodon volleyball family."
Meeks-Rydell and Foster will join Florio to lead the Mastodons in their second season in the Horizon League in the fall of 2021.
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