Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics

Nicole Barringer begins her fourth season at the helm of the Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball program.

In just three seasons as the Head Coach of Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball, Barringer has amassed a record of 64-27 that includes two NCAA Tournament appearances. She has coached nine All-SAC honorees, six All-Region honorees, and is responsible for four of the seven All-Americans in program history. Barringer has a winning percentage of .703, the highest among LR coaches that led the team for more than two seasons. 

The 2024 season was one for the books, as Barringer led the Bears to a 25-7 record and the team's seventh NCAA Tournament in school history. Their .781 winning percentage set a new school record and the 25 wins were the third most all-time in Lenoir-Rhyne Volleyball history. The team set a new program record with 13 consecutive wins to start the season and won 19 of their first 20 games. Four Bears were named to the SAC All-Conference team while Averie Dale and Kaylie Cleaver were both named to the All-Southeast Region Team and AVCA All-American team.

Barringer hit her second year in stride, leading the Bears to their sixth NCAA Tournament in school history. They finished with a 21-11 record and a 14-4 mark in South Atlantic Conference play. Kathy Peter and Emmaleigh Allen were both named to the SAC All-Conference and AVCA All-Region teams, while Sydney Karjala was named to the All-SAC Third Team. 

The 2022 Bears finished the season with an 18-9 record and a 13-5 mark in South Atlantic Conference play. Under Barringer's direction, Emmaleigh Allen was named the league's Freshman of the Year and three players went on to earn All-Conference honors. Allen became the programs fifth all-time SAC Freshman of the Year. Following the season, Barringer earned 30 Under 30 Recognition from the AVCA. Barringer's first win at LR was the program's 800th all-time victory. 

Barringer came to Lenoir-Rhyne from William Peace. At William Peace, Barringer complied an 81-29 mark over her four years and produced three first team All-Conference selections, seven first team All-East Division selections and five second team All-East Division student-athletes while also producing the 2018 freshman Libero of the Year.

Barringer’s 2018 squad achieved William Peace’s first-ever conference championship title in any sport as they went 24-6 overall and 15-1 in the USA South. The following year, the Pacers went 24-8 and 12-4 in league play and were a perfect 7-0 in USA South matches and won the East Division in the 2020 COVID season. Most recently, Barringer produced a 12-4 record in conference play in 2021 and earned a top-3 finish in the league.

Off the court, Barringer’s teams had the highest GPA in William Peace’s department and won back-to-back AVCA Academic Awards in 2019 and 2020.

Following her time as a graduate assistant at Averett, Barringer earned some South Atlantic Conference experience in 2017 as the assistant coach at Catawba. Following that year, she would go on to be named the head coach at WPU.

A standout student-athlete in her own right, Barringer graduated from Averett University in 2015 and earned a master’s in business administration in 2017 while serving as a graduate assistant coach. Barringer was the USA South Conference Woman of the Year in 2015 and also earned the Don Scalf Award which is given to the top female in the league. Barringer was an AVCA All-American in 2014 and a four-time All-Conference selection as a setter. She was named All-Region in 2014 and twice made All-State. Barringer is second in Averett history in career assists with 4,654 and the Cougars won at least 20 games in each of her four seasons. Barringer was elected to the Averett Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2020.    
 

Nicole Barringer Profile

• 2022-Present: Lenoir-Rhyne University - Head Coach
• 2018-2022: William Peace University - Head Coach
• 2017-18: Catawba College - Assistant Coach
• 2015-17: Averett University - Graduate Assistant
• 2011-15: Averett University - Student-Athlete

Year-by-Year Record
 

Year	School	Overall Record	Conference Record
2018	William Peace	24-6	15-1
2019	William Peace	24-8	12-4
2020-21	William Peace	14-2	7-0
2021	William Peace	19-13	14-4
Totals		81-29	48-9 (USA South)
2022	Lenoir-Rhyne	18-9	13-5
2023	Lenoir-Rhyne	21-11 (NCAA Tournament)	14-4
2024	Lenoir-Rhyne	25-7 (NCAA Tournament)	14-4
Totals		64-27	41-13 (SAC)
All-Time		Overall	Conference
7 Years		145-56	89-22