Abby Gilleland enters her first season with the University of Florida women’s volleyball program in the fall of 2025.
After spending three seasons at Marquette, Gilleland joins Florida’s head coach Ryan Theis in Gainesville.
“Abby’s passion towards the sport of volleyball, towards recruiting, towards the player experience really reminds me of Mary Wise to be honest,” Theis said. “She has relentless passion towards the ability to win and how to do it. I recruited her when she was sixteen and I coached her when she was eighteen-nineteen years old. I’ve known her ever since and it’s exciting to have her with me in Gainesville.”
While at Marquette (2022-24): Three NCAA tournaments, Two NCAA Regional Semifinals and two BIG EAST Conference Championships
Gilleland was part of the program’s third NCAA Regional Semifinal in 2024 after defeating the tournament host (No. 17 Utah) on its home court. The Golden Eagles concluded the season with a 25-9 overall record and finished second in the BIG EAST Conference with their 16-2 record. She guided Yadhira Anchante, Hattie Bray and Aubrey Hamilton to AVCA All-North Region First Team honors and All-Big East Conference Team accolades, as well as Hamilton’s second AVCA All-American honor. Athletes under Gilleland earned classroom honors as well, with Hamilton, Casen Murray and Natalie Ring representing Marquette on the CSC’s All-District Team.
In 2023, the Golden Eagles won the program’s third-straight BIG EAST regular season title with a 16-2 mark in league play and earned at-large bid as the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Led by BIG EAST Conference selections Yadhira Anchante, Carsen Murray, Aubrey Hamilton and Hattie Bray, the program finished with an 21-11 overall record. After falling to Purdue in the second round, Hamilton and Bray garnered AVCA All-East Region Team honors, while Hamilton and Bray were named to CSC’s Academic All-District Team.
During her first season in 2022, Marquette set program records in NCAA Division I for overall victories (29) and conference wins (17), while Gilleland helped the Golden Eagles to their third conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16. She mentored AVCA All-American Yadhira Anchante in 2022, also the BIG EAST Conference Setter of the Year.
Gilleland joined the Golden Eagles after three seasons at the University of Connecticut.
Gilleland helped guide the Huskies to one of their best seasons in recent memory in 2021, as they went 24-11 overall with a 13-5 mark in BIG EAST Conference matches. The 13 BIG EAST victories were UConn's most in program history, while its 24 total wins were its most since the 1995 campaign. Furthermore, the Huskies defeated a ranked opponent for the first time in taking down No. 19 Creighton in five sets.
The Huskies made their second straight trip to the BIG EAST tournament and their first NIVC appearance since 1994. UConn hosted a postseason match in Gampel Pavilion for the first time, where it defeated North Florida in four sets to advance to the NIVC Final Four.
Gilleland played a key role in guiding McKayla Wuensch to be named the program's first BIG EAST Setter of the Year. Wuensch ranked second in the conference in assists per set (9.65) and upper her average to 10.20 in conference matches.
Prior to arriving at UConn prior to the start of the 2019 season, Gilleland served as an assistant coach the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2017 and 2018. Gilleland helped coach two Southern Conference All-Freshman selections, four SoCon Player of the Week selections, as well as a pair of All-SoCon Second Team honorees. Gilleland worked with the Mocs’ setters, overall offense, recruiting, in-match strategies, operations planning, and served as the academic liaison. During her time, the team posted a 3.5 GPA or higher all four semesters, nabbed 14 Academic All-SoCon selections in 2017-2018, with a student-athlete earning Google Cloud Academic All-District Team honors in 2018.
Prior to her time at UTC, Gilleland served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at The College of William & Mary. While there, her duties included organization of and follow through with the recruiting process, overall operations, as well as training setters. She coached a pair of student-athletes to the 2016 All-CAA Third Team and All-CAA Rookie Team.
A 2016 graduate of Ohio University with a bachelor's degree in sports sciences, Gilleland was the setter and team captain for the Bobcats, who posted a 93-33 overall record and went 57-7 in the Mid-American Conference matches during her time. She ranks third in Ohio's record book for total assists (4,702), ranks second in assists per (10.45), and third in hitting percentage (.310).
Individually she garnered various honors such as Mid-American Conference All-Freshman selection, Tournament MVP, and AVCA All-Mideast Region. Gilleland was also a two-time All-American honorable mention, conference player of the year, setter of the year, AVCA All-Northeast Region, and NCAA Tournament qualifier. She was selected to the All-MAC First Team and Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athlete on several occasions. Her other accolades include being named the Mid-American Conference 2016 NCAA Women of the Year nominee and receiving the conference Medal of Excellence.
