With the 2020-21 University of Southern Indiana Athletic seasons postponed due to COVID-19, we wanted to take this time to re-introduce the Screaming Eagles coaches and staff members.

Today features, USI Volleyball Head Coach Randi Raff '05. Raff begins her second year at the helm of USI Volleyball and is the 12th head coach in program history.

During Raff's first year at the helm, the Screaming Eagles showed vast improvement, especially late in the season when her squad reeled off four straight wins, including a four-set victory over No. 8 Lewis University. USI finished the year with a 15-15 record and a 7-8 mark in GLVC play after posting sub-.500 marks in the previous three seasons prior to Raff's arrival. Additionally, the Eagles swept the GLVC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in program history.

Raff, who played volleyball at USI in 2001, 2003 and 2004, returned to the Screaming Eagles after spending the previous three seasons at Georgia Tech, where she was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Prior to Georgia Tech, Raff spent the 2015 season as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Indiana after spending three seasons at Northern Kentucky University as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator (2012-14).

She also had a pair of seasons at Division III Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. She helped lead the Captains to back-to-back 38-win seasons, including a national runner-up finish in 2011.

Raff was honored with the 2011 American Volleyball Coaches Association 30 under 30 award, which recognizes young up-and-coming coaches among all NCAA divisions in both men's and women's volleyball.

A native of Rensselaer, Indiana, Raff also served as an assistant coach for two seasons at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, prior to her stint with Christopher Newport. She broke into coaching as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Purdue University from 2005-07.

Raff was a team captain for the Eagles' 2004 GLVC championship squad that posted a 15-1 record in league play as USI rolled to their second NCAA II Tournament appearance in three seasons. She earned her bachelor's degree in exercise science from USI in May 2005 before earning a master's degree in pedagogy and administration from Purdue in 2007.

 
Here is a little more about USI's volleyball head coach:

Hometown/What was the best part of growing up there? Rensselaer, Indiana; The best part about growing up there is how sport-centric we were. Most everyone got involved at a young age. 

Alma Mater: USI! Masters work at Purdue University

Favorite Team(s): Phil Jackson's Bulls!

Favorite part of USI? Why? My favorite part about USI is the beautiful well-kept campus and my fellow coaches.

If you weren't a coach/athletic administrator, what career would you have? Interior Designer

Your go to activity during COVID-19? Puzzles and reading

What did you binge what during lockdown? The Office

Your go to food? Soft baked gluten free snickerdoodle cookies from Aldi.

Who is the messiest person you know? Dr. Henderson

What will finally break the internet? Hackers...or Y2k

What would be on the gag reel of your life? Singing acapella into a mic at camp.

What is the dumbest way you've been injured? Flexing my abs in the mirror.

If you were a fictional character, who would you be? Why? Wonder Woman

What's your biggest screw up in the kitchen? Buffalo cauliflower made with bad flour.

What quote or saying do people spout but is complete BS? "Let's do lunch/we should get together sometime." 

If you could know the absolute and total truth to one question, what question would you ask? Do we have true soulmates?

What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing? Tooth Fairy

When did you know you wanted to be a coach or athletic administrator? When I felt the excitement and joy of teaching a player something at summer camp and she got it. Then I confirmed my decision when I coached a JV high school team to a .500 season and loved it.