Clare Duda enters her second season as the Assistant coach here at UT Permain Basin.
The Falcons made their deepest Lone Star Conference postseason run in 2021 and put the entire conference on notice with two massive upsets late in the season. The Falcons won 17 games, and reached the LSC semifinals for the first time since joining the conference. In the LSC quarterfinals the Falcons knocked off two-time defending conference champion and No. 6 nationally-ranked Angelo State on their home floor. The Falcons handed the Rams just their fifth loss at home in their last 100 games. Less than a week prior on Senior Day, the Falcons stunned No. 13 UT Tyler after trailing by two sets.
The Falcons got huge performances from their upperclassmen. Analise Lucio finished the season with 938 assists, third most in the conference, to end her Falcon career second all-time in the category. Offensively the team was led by Aquincia Strambler's 369 kills, second most in the LSC, while Taurie Magee added 247 and Isela Murillo 244. Defensively the Falcons were fourth in the conference in team digs and held opponent's to the fifth lowest hitting percentage. Daylee Doggett had a breakout year with 483 digs to finish third in the conference. After the season Lucio and Strambler were awarded with First Team All-Conference honors.
In her time at King, the Tornado were one of the best women’s programs in the Conference Carolinas. Duda helped lead the Tornado women’s team to a conference tournament championship last season after knocking off No. 1 seed North Greenville. In her first season, Duda helped the Tornado capture the Conference West Division title and finish runner-up in the Conference Tournament. Five players garnered All-Conference honors. The Tornado led the league in attack percentage at .192 and blocks per set at 2.27.
She joined King prior to the 2019-20 season following a stint working as a Student-Athlete Development Coordinator in Academic Affairs for Athletics at Liberty University. While there she helped organize events and community service projects for the Liberty student-athletes.
Duda played volleyball at Christendom College where she was the team captain and assistant coach. She earned USCAA honorable mention All-America honors and was a CAC award recipient.
She has extensive experience working with student-athletes as she also served as a dorm parent at Virginia International Academy and was an assistant to pastoral minister at Covenant House Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska.
Duda earned her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Christendom in 2015 and her Master of Science in Sport Management from Liberty in 2018.
