Allison Kwolek - Women's Lacrosse Coach - University of Richmond Athletics

Allison Kwolek

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
allison.kwolek@richmond.edu
Phone:
287-6680

Allison Kwolek guided the Spiders into the top-10 in the national rankings for the second-straight season and captured the Atlantic 10 Regular-Season Championship in 2021. Kwolek has led Richmond to a 64-16 record in the last five seasons, including going 28-5 in conference play.

The Spiders went 10-2 overall with a perfect 6-0 mark in conference play in 2021. It was the Spiders’ second Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship in the last three full seasons. Richmond has now won two A-10 tournament titles and two conference regular-season championships in the last 3 full seasons.

Richmond’s success has been driven by Kwolek’s recruiting. Her 2019 class was ranked No. 10 in the nation by Inside Lacrosse Magazine, and her incoming freshmen class for 2022 could be even better.

The 2018 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Kwolek led the Spiders to a victory over No. 6 ranked Virginia and a top-10 national ranking in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The Spiders had won back-to-back Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships and advanced to two-straight NCAA Tournaments (2018-19), and were 7-0 and ranked No. 10 in the nation before the season was cut short.

Richmond’s win over previously undefeated Virginia was the Spiders’ first over UVA since 2006 and just the fourth over the Cavaliers in 43 meetings. Virginia entered the game 4-0, with three of those wins over ranked opponents. Kwolek and the Spiders had given the Cavaliers a scare in 2017, before getting edged 15-14.

Richmond has finished three of the past four seasons in the top-30 in the country in the RPI, including ending the year 20th in 2018.

Under her tutelage, the UR program has qualified for seven-straight Atlantic 10 Tournaments, advancing to the championship game in six of those appearances. Her Spider teams have thrived in postseason play, with an 11-5 record in the A-10 Tournament, having won 9 of their last 12 conference tournament games.

Kwolek’s players have received plenty of individual recognition, coaching 5 Atlantic 10 Players of the Year, and numerous all-conference selections. Sophia Dicenso played on the USA National U-19 team that won a gold medal in 2019, and earned the invite to try out with the US National Team in the summer of 2021. Sam Geiersbach and freshman Arden Tierney were named 2020 Inside Lacrosse Media Honorable Mention All-America. Two of Kwolek’s players at Richmond, Geiersbach (2020 and 2021) and Caitlin Fifield (2013), were named to the prestigious Tewaaraton Award Watch List

Kwolek led the Spiders to historic 2019 season, setting a new program record with 17 wins and winning a second-straight Atlantic 10 Championship title with a 19-18 comeback overtime win over UMass. The team competed in its second-straight NCAA Tournament and fifth all-time to finish the year at 17-4 overall. Five student-athletes earned first or second team All-Conference honors, led by two-time Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year Julie Ball, who became the first student-athlete in A-10 history to earn the honor more than once.

The Spiders finished the year in record-breaking fashion, totaling 455 points and 314 goals to shatter the previous single-season marks. Senior Marissa Brown wrapped up her career by breaking her own single-season assist record with 49 while also overcoming the career assist mark with 142.

2018 was a memorable season for the Spiders, as the team tied a then program-best record of 16-4 overall, finished in a tie for first in the Atlantic 10 Regular Season, and took the 2018 A-10 Tournament Title with a 12-11 overtime win over UMass. The squad advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007, while eight student-athletes earned All-Conference honors, including A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Kim Egizi and A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Julie Ball. Kwolek was named the A-10 Co-Coach of the Year. Egizi and Ball also earned IWLCA Second Team All-Region honors for their efforts. The Spiders broke multiple single-season records on the year, including single-season goals (288), while Egizi broke the single-season point mark, Katie Sciandra broke the single-season goal mark, and Caroline Queally broke the single-season draw control mark for the third time in her career.

An All-CAA midfielder at William & Mary and defender on the USA Team, the former Allison Evans was named to the William & Mary Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020. In February, 2015, she was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Potomac Chapter.

After working in asset management for commercial developers, she returned to her alma mater to coach (2008-09), where she helped the Tribe to a CAA regular-season championship and top-20 national ranking in 2009. Kwolek spent one year at Columbia (2010) while earning a master’s degree in sports management, and then helped Dartmouth (2011-12) to two NCAA Tournament bids and the 2012 Ivy League Championship. The Green, who had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2006 before her arrival, defeated five top-20 ranked opponents in 2012. Her defense was ranked 16th in the nation and first in the Ivy League.

In 2016, she was named an assistant coach for the Boston Storm during the inaugural season of the United Women's Lacrosse League, the world's first professional lacrosse league for female athletes. Kwolek helped the Storm to the league’s championship game.

Kwolek earned her master's degree in sports management from Columbia in 2012 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology from William & Mary in 2003.

Allison and her husband Mark live in Richmond with their daughter Olivia.