Shana Rayside
Head Coach | 3rd Season | 36-23
Former Lion student-athlete and assistant coach
Shana Rayside was hired as the sixth Georgian Court Volleyball Head Coach in program history, Feb. 1, 2023 and the first woman to be head coach in the NCAA-era.
The 2024 CACC Coach of the Year, Rayside won a Conference Tournament Championship and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament in just her second season at the helm. She guided the Lions to a 22-10 overall mark, 14-2 record in the CACC, and GCU won just their second ever NCAA Tournament game.
In her first season on the sidelines as the Lions head coach, Rayside guided the Lions to a 14-13 record and an 8-8 mark in the CACC, earning a berth in the conference tournament.
Rayside has coached six All-CACC selections, three each in her first two seasons, along with an AVCA All-Region selection in Nylene Mateo.
Rayside spent four seasons, 2016-19, wearing the blue and gold as a rightside hitter. As a senior captain, she led the Lions to the 2019 CACC Tournament Championship and to the NCAA Regional Tournament. Her career totals include 686 kills, 277 blocks, 844.5 points and a .205 attack percentage. As a senior she made the All-CACC Second Team and the CACC All-Tournament Team. Her 277 blocks are still the fifth-most all-time at Georgian Court.
Following her playing days, Rayside took to coaching. The 2022 season was Rayside's first on the GCU sidelines, but she has a wide array of coaching experience. She was a seasonal coach at both the Ocean County Volleyball Club and the Shore Volleyball Academy in Toms River. In March of 2021, Rayside was an Assistant Coach at Red Bank Catholic High School and she returned to her alma mater in August, 2022 to assist Coach Sempkowski and the Lions.
A New Jersey native, Rayside graduated at nearby Lakewood High School before coming to Georgian Court. In between her stops at Georgian Court, Rayside paid a visit to our neighbors across the Atlantic. She earned a Master's Degree in Psychology while playing as a graduate student at the University of East London in London, England.
| Shana Rayside Year-by-Year |
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Conference |
| 2023 |
Georgian Court |
14-13 |
8-8 |
| 2024 |
Georgian Court#^* |
22-10 |
14-2 |
|
Georgian Court Totals |
36-23 |
22-10 |
|
Career Totals |
36-23 |
22-10 |
| * NCAA Postseason |
| # CACC South Regular Season Champions |
| ^ CACC Tournament Champions |
