Southern Miss Volleyball head coach Jenny Hazelwood announced the addition of Kody Bivins to the Golden Eagles staff as assistant coach on March 1, 2024.

“Kody comes here with college head coaching experience and is going to bring a lot of knowledge and an understanding of a lot of things in the game,” Hazelwood said. “I have known him for a number of years and he knows how to teach a lot of different areas of our sport, so it is always really nice to have someone that can coach multiple positions. He is very organized and takes initiative to do things, so he’s going to be a wonderful addition to our staff in all that he brings experience-wise and with his knowledge.”

Bivins comes to Southern Miss after serving as head coach of Belhaven Volleyball for two seasons, leading the program to the most wins over two years since the 2017-2018 seasons, while finishing fifth place in the Collegiate Conference of the South in 2022 and sixth in 2023 with a combined conference record of 14-18.

“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be joining Coach Jenny’s staff and the Southern Miss family,” Bivins said. “She has a great vision for the program that is already in progress, and I am looking forward to assisting in continuing to bring that vision into fruition. Ultimately, I am excited to get in the gym, connect with the student-athletes, and help to foster an environment where we all can learn and grow. It is an exciting time to be a Golden Eagle - SMTTT!”

Most recently in 2023, Bivins led the Blazers to the CCS Tournament Quarterfinals with a 7-9 standing in conference play. In the regular season, the Blazers won a five-set victory against Huntingdon, who finished second in the conference.

In 2022, the Blazers saw a pair of All-Conference honorees in Bivins' first campaign with Ellie Jones and Jeslian Vazquez being named to the Collegiate Conference of the South Second Team. Vazquez also earned the conference's Rookie of the Year honor.

Prior to joining the Blazers in 2022, Bivins spent the 2021 season at Auburn University at Montgomery as an assistant coach under Head Coach Flavia Siqueira. He served as lead recruiter and helped coach the Warhawks to 17 victories, which is tied for the most wins since AUM joined NCAA Division II in 2017. Additionally, he was the position coach for middle blockers and liberos and oversaw all team workouts and conditioning.

Prior to his time at AUM, he assisted coach Kandis Schram at Maryville College and aided the Scots in securing their first program national ranking in the AVCA National Poll as Maryville finished the 2020-21 season ranked No. 25 with an overall record of 16-1 and undefeated 8-0 conference standing. He helped lead the Scots to the 2020-21 USA South West Division Conference Championship, was responsible for oversight of the team's defense and was the position coach for all front row positions and liberos.

Bivins coached four USA South All-Conference members, two USA South Conference Players of the Week and six USA South Academic All-Conference members at Maryville.

Before his stint at Maryville, Kody spent four years as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla. He helped the Eagles to four NJCAA National Tournament appearances, finishing as high as third place in 2016.

Bivins also was part of two Mid-Florida Conference Championship teams and spent five weeks ranked #1 in the NJCAA National Poll. Additionally, he coached five NJCAA All-Americans, three Mid-Florida Conference Players of the Year and had 18 student-athletes named to the Mid-Florida All-Conference team.

Bivins, originally from Orlando, Fla., is a graduate of Polk State College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Name	Title	Email Address
Jenny Hazelwood	Head Coach	Jenny.Hazelwood@usm.edu
Kody Bivins	Associate Head Coach	kody.bivins@usm.edu
Tristyn Turner	Assistant Coach	tristyn.turner@usm.edu
Drew Williams	Assistant Coach	andrew.t.williams@usm.edu

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

2026 Women's Volleyball Coaching Staff

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