Abby Beam is entering her third season as an assistant coach on Rick Nold’s staff after being hired in April of 2008.
Beam joined the Gamecocks after spending the previous five years in Atlanta, where she spent four seasons as a defensive specialist and libero at Georgia Tech and the fifth year as a head coach at the A5 Volleyball Club. She replaced Kristi Griffin, who left JSU after four seasons as Nold’s top assistant.
“We are really excited about adding someone with Abby’s background,” Nold said. “She comes from a very successful program and has been a part of several championships during her career. One of the things we were looking for in an assistant is a personality that will allow them to help carry on our program’s championship tradition, as well as help push us farther into the NCAA Tournament. We are excited about getting Abby involved with our team and the day-to-day operations of our program.”
A native of Vandalia, Ohio, Beam was the head coach of one of A5’s 16 and under volleyball teams, a capacity she served in since between finishing her Tech career and joining the Gamecocks. Her team opened the 2008 schedule with three straight top-three finishes, including a Silver Championship at the Impact Tournament in Nashville to open the season.
Abby’s experience also includes several duties during her time at Georgia Tech. She served as an instructor at the Yellow Jackets’ camp for four years, and in 2006 she guided her team to the camp tournament championship that featured 22 teams. She has also been involved with other camps, including the Calvert High School Team Camp in Tiffin, Ohio, for which she served as director in 2004.
"I am extremely excited to be joining the Jacksonville State Volleyball program,” Beam said. “I have heard only good things about Coach Nold and I am thankful for the opportunity to coach with him. I look forward to working with Coach Nold and such a great group of athletes to keep the Gamecock volleyball program among the best in the Ohio Valley Conference and the region."
Beam was a versatile part of the Yellow Jackets’ program during her four years as a player. She signed with Georgia Tech as a setter out of Vandalia-Butler High School after being named a “Fab 50” recruit by Volleyball Magazine. She also played at the rightside hitter and defensive specialist spots for the Yellow Jackets before finishing her career as the team’s libero. As a senior in 2006, she recorded 508 digs, which is the third-highest total in a season in Tech history. She also ranks seventh in the school’s career record book with 2.86 digs per game over her four-year career.
In her four seasons with the Yellow Jackets, Beam helped her team to three seasons with 20 or more wins, including back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference titles and a combined 61-11 record in 2003 and 2004.
Beam joined a JSU program that had won either the Ohio Valley Conference’s regular-season or tournament title in each of the previous three seasons. The Gamecocks shared the regular-season crown in 2007 after making the program’s first-ever appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and 2006.
She helped continue that run in her second season, when she helped guide the Gamecocks to the OVC Regular Season and Tournament titles and the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in the first round of the Tallahassee, Fla., Regional against Florida A&M. The historic win capped a 27-8 season for JSU, the most wins in a season in school history, and a 17-1 mark in OVC play.
Beam, formerly Abby Showers, married Tim Beam of Section, Ala., in the summer of 2010.
