This past week, Tulane Beach Volleyball welcomed former Green Wave athlete Cori Martone back  Uptown to serve as its new assistant coach. Martone will work alongside returning head coach Wayne Holly to continue the team’s recent success into the coming season.

Martone has stressed her excitement to give back to her former team in a supporting role through both player development and encouragement.

“This is a dream come true. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to give back to a program that gave me so much,” Martone said. “We have a great group of girls and I am looking forward to not only being their coach but their biggest cheerleader as well.”

The former student-athlete brings with her extensive knowledge regarding the ins and outs of collegiate beach volleyball: Martone was a member of the Green Wave’s inaugural roster for the 2011-12 season, and she was instrumental in obtaining Tulane’s first national ranking of No. 9 in the following 2012-13 season.

The Baton Rouge native’s resume is further bolstered from her time with Tulane’s indoor volleyball team. Martone, a four-year letterwinner, earned All-Conference USA and All-Louisiana first team honors during her tenure with the Green Wave. In her senior season with Tulane, she helped lead the team to an impressive 28-4 overall record, second in Conference USA.

Steadfast dedication to the game earned the middle hitter a ninth-place kills ranking in the all-time indoor volleyball record book. Martone compiled 1375 kills over her career, averaging 3.27 per set. Furthermore, the Green Wave star ranks 11th in points with 1610.

While Martone was unable to play under current head coach Wayne Holly her senior season, she worked alongside him as an undergraduate assistant. She has emphasized her excitement to continue this working relationship with the coach in her new role.

“I had the wonderful opportunity to play and coach for Wayne toward the end of my career at Tulane and in that short time my skill level and knowledge of the game grew immensely,” Martone said. “Coach Holly is a lifelong student of the game, someone who is constantly bringing new ideas to the sport and I consider myself very lucky to learn from someone I admire greatly. I am excited for this partnership and optimistic about this upcoming year.”

Beach Volleyball’s schedule has not yet been released for the 2018-19 season. Fans can expect to see Coach Martone and Coach Holly’s squad in action later this fall for a brief period of preseason play and extensively next spring in the regular season.