ATLANTA – Oglethorpe director of athletics Todd Brooks on Friday announced Olivia Tidmore as the University's next volleyball head coach. Tidmore brings to Oglethorpe NCAA national championship experience after most recently helping guide fellow Division III member Covenant to the national tournament in 2022.
"I am pleased to announce Olivia Tidmore as our new head volleyball coach," said Brooks. "It was obvious throughout the search process that she has an excellent knowledge of the game and a strong appreciation and plan for recruiting qualified student-athletes. Olivia's involvement with and knowledge of the southeastern volleyball scene will serve her well in continuing the improved trajectory we have seen over the past couple of years. I am confident in her abilities to help us accomplish success moving forward."
Tidmore comes to Oglethorpe following the head coaching role at A5 Volleyball and the assistant coaching role at Covenant, the latter following an injury-shorted playing career.
A5 Volleyball
With A5 Volleyball, Tidmore planned, organized and executed practices and team events, and she oversaw recruiting for 18 National. She also assisted in master coaching in individual skills with a specific focus on individual setting and defensive techniques.
Tidmore helped the team qualify for nationals with 16 National in the 2021-2022 season.
Covenant coaching and playing career
During her time as assistant coach at Covenant, Tidmore helped guide the Scots to their first national tournament appearance since 2017. This came after the team won the 2022 Collegiate Conference of the South regular season championship and tournament championship. Tidmore was a member of the coaching staff that won CCS coaching staff of the year that year.
Tidmore's responsibilities with Covenant included recruiting research, in-match technical strategy, assisting in practice, stat keeping and analysis, and gameday setup. She also focused on setter and middle blocker development and helped plan and execute all camp programming, mentorship and development of student-athletes. Tidmore performed many of these same responsibilities as a student assistant from 2019 to 2022.
Tidmore came to Covenant in August 2018 looking forward to a four-year playing career but was sidelined by an injury in her freshman season. This saw her make the transition to the student assistant role following her fall freshman semester.
In her words
"I am excited to take on this role. The coaches before me have established a strong program and I am excited to build upon that. I would like to thank Todd Brooks for the opportunity and the coaches who have mentored me along the way. Go Stormy Petrels!"
Education | Personal
Tidmore earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sports management from Covenant in 2022. She won the USA South All-Academic award and USA South All-Sportsmanship award during her time as a student-athlete.
Tidmore is a native of Montevallo, Alabama. She will make the move to Atlanta with her husband Luke, whom she married in 2022.
