Abby Saehler - Women's Volleyball Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Abby Saehler

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
abigail.saehler@gcu.edu
Phone:
602-639-8561
Alma mater:
Wingate (2017)
Year at GCU:
4th

Road to GCU
YEAR	SCHOOL	POSITION
2013-16	Wingate	Student-Athlete
2017-18	Concordia (Neb.)	Grad. Asst.
2019-pres	GCU	Asst. Coach

Abby Saehler is in her fourth season as an assistant coach on the GCU women's volleyball staff for the 2022 season. She also serves as the Lopes recruiting coordinator.

Under head coach Tim Nollan, Saehler has been a part of 24-win (2019) and 19-win (2021) Lopes seasons and has seen GCU win over 75% of its games. As a member of GCU's coaching staff, Saehler has twice helped lead the Lopes to championship-game appearances in the WAC Tournament.

Saehler played a major part in four Lopes earning All-WAC honors in 2021. Klaire Mitchell won WAC Setter of the Year for the second straight year Teagan DeFalco was named the conference's Libero of the Year. Saehler was influential in Annabelle Kubinski earning second-team All-WAC honors and McKenzie Wise being named the conference's Freshman of the Year. Under Saheler's guidance, Kubinski and Hannah Eskes now appear in the program's Division I record books with Kubinski third in block solos (38), block assists (183), and fourth in total blocks (221), and Eskes holding the single-season block solo record (28), ranking second in career block solos (54) and fourth in total blocks (168).

In pandemic-shortened season played in the Spring of 2021, Saehler played a part in six Lopes earning All-WAC honors for the first time in school history. Mitchell brought home a WAC Setter of the Year, a program first, and K.J. Adams was named Libero of the Year. The Lopes were a perfect 8-0 at home, something that no Lopes squad had accomplished since 1993.

In Saehler's inaugural season on the staff, she and the GCU staff orchestrated one of the nation’s best turnarounds. The Lopes posted a 13-win improvement from 2018 to 2019, marking the fifth-largest win improvement in the country. After a runner-up finish in conference play, GCU marched its way to the program's first WAC Tournament Championship game after a 3-1 win over Kansas City in the semifinals. Mitchell was named the WAC's top freshman while sophomore middle blocker Kaira Moss earned All-WAC first-team honors.

Prior to GCU, Saehler spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Concordia (Neb.)

She is a 2017 graduate of Wingate University in North Carolina, where she played collegiately for the Bulldogs. She was a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American and earned three Southeast All-Region awards.

A native of Iowa City, Iowa, Saehler was a star high jumper on the track team and also played softball, bowling and tennis.