Sam Albus was hired as the new Head Men's Volleyball Coach by Vice President for Athletics and Club Sports Craig McPhail on August 17, 2022. Albus comes to Banner Elk from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri where he was the Assistant Women’s Volleyball Coach for their NCAA Division II program.
In his first year at Lees-McRae, Albus was named Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year after finishing the season with 11 wins, which was the most in program history since 2014. Albus guided the Bobcats to a 7-7 league record and Lees-McRae reached the quarterfinal round of Conference Carolinas for the first time since 2018. The Bobcats had their first 3-0 start to conference play since 2010 after defeating King in five sets on Feb. 14, 2023. Albus mentored three men's volleyball student-athletes to All-Conference Carolinas selections with Ace Backer, Michael Marsans, and Bradley Peters. Peters was also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team in May 2023.
“When talking to Sam, I was energized by his desire to develop the young men in our program to their full potential, both on and off the court, representing Lees-McRae with high character,” said McPhail. “His professional experience will lend to be quite the mentor to our team and for recruits to recognize his path was unconventional, but still highly successful.”
During his time at Truman State, Albus’s main responsibilities were training and mentoring student-athletes on and off the court, assisting in recruiting, overall scheduling, practice planning, logistics, and data analysis, organizing team travel and team-bonding events, as well as programming fitness/weight training for his student-athletes. In addition to his experience at Truman State, Albus is also still currently a coach for the Gold Medal Squared program, where he traveled to various camps and clinics to train prospective volleyball players, and the President/Team Manager for the River City Flow, LLC, a Richmond-based volleyball team competing in the VLA.
“I am so grateful and excited to work hard for this program,” said Albus. “I am so thankful to Craig McPhail, Rita Smith, Jeffrey Merrill, and Abigail King for this amazing opportunity. You each showed me how much you care about our student-athletes and I can’t wait to work with such a passionate group of leaders. Banner Elk is a beautiful place and I look forward to enjoying the mountains throughout the seasons.”
Albus earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech and was the President of the Virginia Tech Men’s Volleyball Club. His experience on the court also extends to the FC Schuttorf men’s volleyball team in Germany where he played a season as the starting opposite.
