Lauren Deaton enters her first season as assistant coach with the Lipscomb University volleyball program.
Deaton joins LUV after spending the 2024 season as assistant coach at ASUN foe North Alabama, where the Lions qualified for the ASUN Championship. She was a part of four All-ASUN honors, including the Freshman of the Year in Reese Ricketts.
She also served as assistant coach for the UNA beach volleyball program when she arrived in Florence. The Lions advanced to semifinals with a 22-13 overall record.
Along with her time on the court, she served as facilitator for UNA's summer camps.
Prior to her time at UNA, she served as a graduate assistant at Houston, where she handled team travel. The 2023 Cougars played to a 19-win season that year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship.
Playing at Samford for five seasons, she finished as the all-time leader in kills (1,836) and attacks (5,551) and fourth in digs (1,574).
Deaton, a five-year letterwinner for Samford from 2018-22, is the Bulldogs program leader in career kills (1,836) and career attacks (5,551) and ranks fourth in program history in career digs (1,574).
Winning 88 matches during her career as a Bulldog, she was a part of four Southern Conference Tournament Championships and also four appearances in the NCAA Championship.
Named the Freshman of the Year in the league during the 2018 campaign, she was a five-time All-SoCon selection, including two First Teams in 2019 and 2020-21. During the spring 2020-21 season, she was named the SoCon Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
A native of Memphis and a graduate of Harding Academy, she graduated cum laude from Samford with a Bachelor of Science in sports administration with a communications minor in 2022. She earned her Master of Business Administration from Samford in 2024.
