Beach Volleyball’s Katie Horton Named AVCA Thirty Under 30 Recipient
Apr 27, 2021 | Women's Beach Volleyball
AVCA Thirty Under 30 Beach Award Recipients
NEW ORLEANS — Tulane beach volleyball assistant coach Katie Horton has been named a recipient of the AVCA Thirty Under 30 Beach award.
"Well-earned recognition of Katie's effort and dedication since day one here at Tulane," head coach Eyal Zimet said. "The AVCA award is a perfect acknowledgement of Katie's drive and ability to positively affect our Tulane beach volleyball program and our student-athletes on a daily basis. During an unprecedented period of time to coach, Katie has been instrumental in our ability as a program to be successful in the classroom, with the highest GPA in program history, as well as on the sand, with an impressive 22-15 record during the first full season in NOLA. Bringing with her a ton of applicable knowledge, grit and relatability. We are grateful for Katie and excited to see her coaching career continue to grow!"
In her second season Uptown, Horton helped lead the Green Wave to a 22-15 overall record, the team's first season with 20 or more wins since 2018.
"Receiving this award is such an honor and means a lot. I'm so grateful and I hope that it means that I'm going down the right career path," Horton said. "I would like to thank Eyal [Zimet] for taking the chance and giving me the opportunity to start my coaching career at the college level and influence these young, female athletes."
Horton came to New Orleans from Tallahassee, Florida where she served as the assistant coach for the Chiles High School beach volleyball team. In her one season with the program, Horton helped lead the Timberwolves to their first ever beach volleyball championship and a 14-1 record.
Prior to making her way to Tulane, Horton was a coach for the C3 beach volleyball club team and worked as the director of operations for the Tallahassee Volleyball Academy.
Horton's experience doesn't end on the sand, as the Green Wave coach was also the U16 National head coach for the Tallahassee Volleyball Academy in 2019 and an assistant coach for Chile's indoor volleyball team in 2018.
Beginning her collegiate career at Ohio University in 2013 before transferring to Florida State in 2014, Horton racked up multiple accomplishments in her years as a student-athlete.
Horton spent one year on Ohio's indoor volleyball team as an outside hitter before making her way to Tallahassee, where she would then play for four seasons on the beach volleyball team and three on the indoor volleyball team.
The Michigan native was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team and earned CCSA Tournament MVP honors in 2018, while was also named to the CCSA All-Conference Teams in 2017 and 2018. Horton helped lead the Seminoles to a 33-7 overall record in her senior season on the sand, going undefeated in conference play with a 17-0 record to finish as national runner up.
Horton made history on the indoor court as well, becoming the first player in FSU history to earn 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. She was also named AVCA All-East Region in 2014 and 2016, AVCA All-America honorable mention in 2014 and First Team All-ACC in 2016.
This new award was created in 2021 to honor up-and-coming beach coaching talent at all levels of the sport. These rising stars are hard-working and passionate about teaching, and they demonstrate dedication to the fast-growing sport of beach volleyball. Nominees had to be younger than 30 years old in 2020 to qualify for the award.
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