Rachel Dunlap, a former standout middle blocker at Central Connecticut State, joined the Northern Arizona volleyball staff in May 2017. She works primarily with NAU's middle blockers and also assists with the team's social media efforts.
In three of the last six seasons, NAU has ranked in the top 60 nationally in opponent hitting percentage with Dunlap orchestrating the Lumberjacks' efforts at the net. Dunlap also helped the Lumberjacks rank among the nation's leaders in blocks in 2018 and 2019. Dunlap was also instrumental in Abby Akin becoming one of the most decorated players in program history. Akin finished her career second all-time in blocks in program history, accumulate over 1,000 kills and rank first all-time in Big Sky Conference history in hitting percentage (.389).
Dunlap helped guide NAU to the 2018 Big Sky regular season and tournament championships on the Lumberjacks' way to the NCAA Tournament. NAU finished the season 32nd nationally in total blocks (308.0), allowing the 'Jacks to rank 24th in the country with a .164 opponent hitting percentage. In 2018, Akin, earned her second of three career All-Big Sky First Team nods. Akin averaged a career-high 2.60 kills per set as a junior and ranked eighth in the country with a school record .404 hitting percentage, while averaging 1.09 blocks per set.
In her first season in Flagstaff, Dunlap used her blocking expertise to help the Lumberjacks rank fifth in league play with 2.35 blocks per set. Under her tutelage, Akin ranked third in the conference with 1.18 blocks per set. She also coached Victoria Ewalefo to a breakout season with Ewalefo hitting .350 and averaging just under one block per set.
Prior to arriving at NAU, Dunlap, a 2016 AVCA Coaches 4 Coaches award recipient, spent a year as a volunteer assistant coach at Yale where she mentored the Bulldogs' middle blockers and assisted with the team's overall blocking schemes. While at Yale, she also served as the head coach for the Husky Volleyball Club 17 National team.
Dunlap concluded her three-year playing career at Central Connecticut State as one of the country's elite middle blockers in 2013 and 2014. In both of her final two seasons, she ranked in the top 25 nationally in blocks per set. As a junior, Dunlap finished the year ranked sixth in the NCAA with a block average of 1.54 and totaled a program record 163 blocks – both of which led the Northeast Conference. She ranked 21st nationally the following season with 1.38 blocks per set while posting career-highs in hitting percentage (.342), kills (253) and kills per set (2.43) as a senior. Dunlap once again led the NEC in blocks in addition to hitting percentage.
She was a two All-Northeast Conference selection (First Team, 2014; Second Team, 2013) and was a nine-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week honoree. She finished her career with 419 total blocks and a .311 hitting percentage, both of which rank in the top five in school history.
Post-college, Dunlap earned a tryout with the U.S. Women's National Team at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in 2015 before moving on to play professionally in Iceland with Club Fylkir. During her time overseas, she got her first coaching experience with the Iceland U16 National Team.
Originally from Sonora, Calif., Dunlap graduated from Central Connecticut State in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science. She earned her master's degree in digital audience strategy from Arizona State's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2020.
