Bio

Audra Dent begins her first year as the head volleyball coach in March, 2022. She was born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA where her love for beach volleyball started early. At the time, indoor volleyball was the only thing offered for youth in a structured setting so she leaned into this sport and was highly recruited out of high school to play Division I volleyball. She chose San Diego State where she completed a fruitful 4-year career as an Aztec.

While attending SDSU, her love for coaching blossomed and she began coaching high level club teams. Audra has coached at different clubs across the county and has since owned her own developmental club, GRIT. After finishing her playing years in college, she began coaching high school volleyball in addition to club. While pursuing a coaching career, she began training and competing on the beach year-round.

She earned her AAA rating in 2008 and competed in professional and semi-professional events until 2017, prior to the birth of her son. During these years, Audra was a part of two of the most successful high school programs in the county and state. For eight years as the first assistant at Cathedral Catholic when they won four state championships and eight CIF championships, and for the last seven years as the head coach and program director at Francis Parker for both the indoor and sand teams (competed in CIF finals in 2021).

As soon as sand volleyball became recognized as an organized sport, she jumped at the chance to start coaching and joined 692 West where she has been the club's longest standing coach since the start 13 years ago. This club was the first of its kind in San Diego and has since been on the frontlines of growing the sport and getting countless elite athletes into top colleges across the country.

In addition to her coaching career, she is an educator and earned her masters degree in The Study of Human Behavior in 2013. She has utilized her degree in both special education and behavior management. She has worked with a diverse population of students and staff in the classroom and as a consultant with a focus on school improvement, conducting reviews in high schools and universities, as well as coaching school staff on best practices. This skill set has proven to be very applicable as an athletic coach and Audra prides herself on implementing positive behavioral management strategies to maximize her athlete’s personal and athletic performance.

"I am incredibly excited to be joining the Knights here at City," said Dent. "We have a great group who is ready to train hard, and compete relentlessly. We are looking to build a strong foundation for our program this year and for years to come.  I look forward to supporting our team as we commit to working toward and achieving goals while continuously challenging ourselves and each other. GO KNIGHTS"