Bethune-Cookman University Athletics

WILLIAMS BY THE NUMBERS

August 2025 represents the beginning of Brittany Williams’ 10th year at the helm of the Bethune-Cookman Volleyball program in Daytona Beach, Florida. However, it represents her 11th year overall, minus the COVID-19 pandemic athletic season of 2020-21, in which Bethune-Cookman opted out of athletics altogether. For Williams, the 10th season in charge ties her for the longest tenure as a head coach in Wildcats Volleyball history, matching the management timeline of Rosina Pearson who was in charge from 1987 through 1996.
 
Altogether, Williams enters the 2025 campaign just two wins shy of her 100th career victory as a collegiate head coach.
 
In the summer of 2025, the Wildcats embarked upon a world tour in which the team traveled to Costa Rica, marking the first time any B-CU program had ventured away from the continental United States for a summer tour since the men’s basketball team went to the Bahamas in the summer of 2015. The Cats played against three teams from the country, including a win over the Costa Rican National Team.
 
During the 2024 campaign, Williams saw middle blocker Niara Hightower and outside hitter Jasmine Robinson named to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) all-conference team, in addition to Hightower being tabbed SWAC Blocker of the Year. For Hightower, it was her second consecutive SWAC Blocker of the Year award after leading the league in total blocks in back-to-back seasons. Earlier this season, the Wichita Falls, Texas, native eclipsed 300 blocks for her career, ending her career second all-time in career blocks for the Maroon and Gold, finishing her career with more than 325 under her belt.
 
All this was conducted while the Cats were forced to play two scheduled home matches away from Daytona Beach due to the effects of Hurricane Milton in October.
 
Along the way, the Cats set a new school record for consecutive wins, registering eight SWAC wins from October 13 through November 3. The team ended the regular season fourth in the SWAC, advancing to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament with a win over Texas Southern in Grambling, Louisiana. The squad finished with the most league wins since joining the SWAC, as well as a 15-win regular season – the most since 2018 when they finished 16-16 overall. Additionally, it was the first winning season for the Cats since 2004 when they went 14-12 overall.
 
In 2023, Williams coached Hightower to her first SWAC Blocker of the Year award, as she was also voted to the All-SWAC Second Team for her efforts. As a team, B-CU went 7-9 in league play, earning a spot in the SWAC Tournament housed in Prairie View, Texas. For the season, the Wildcats won all three matches of the SWAC Cluster #2 which was hosted by Bethune-Cookman at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium, as B-CU defeated teams from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Grambling State and Alcorn State, respectfully. To conclude the year, the Maroon and Gold participated in the SWAC Tournament, falling in the quarterfinal round to Alabama State.
 
The 2022 season saw the Wildcats take part in their first-ever SWAC Tournament, winning a quarterfinal matchup against Grambling State in Houston, Texas, and advancing to the semifinals against in-state foe Florida A&M. The duration of the season saw B-CU pick up a pair of winning streaks that included a four-match swing and a three-match winning streak, respectively. The latter witnessed Williams and the Cats defeat Alabama A&M at home in Moore Gym, allowing the Texas native to collect her 73rd win as head coach in Daytona Beach, matching the record for all-time wins at the controls of the program.
 
"I joined this program first as an assistant under a great head coach in Isaac Raphael," Williams said. “He taught me a lot, and he entrusted me with this program when he stepped away from coaching for a bit. It was a whirlwind for me, but my goal was always just to make the program better."
 
Additionally, setter Alisha Callender – one of the best in school history at the position, was named to the All-SWAC Second Team after finishing the regular season with 560 assists (6.15 per set), good for fourth in the league in that department, respectively.
 
In 2021, Williams led the charge as B-CU Athletics emerged from a season away due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her team became the first Wildcats program to compete in the SWAC, finishing the season as the top blocking team in the conference by a wide margin.

The 2018 campaign saw the Wildcats post their best overall record (16-16) since 2004 with strong nonconference showings in tournaments at New Orleans and Stetson. In addition, the season started with a victory over Texas Southern that marked Bethune-Cookman’s first season-opening victory since 2006. The team's 16 wins also was the second-highest in program history behind the 2001 team's 19 wins, and the highest wins total in the Williams era.

Williams registered her 50th career victory against North Carolina A&T on October 28, 2018. She became the winningest B-CU coach in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play with a 33-7 mark in four seasons, eclipsing Vanessa Cogswell's 30 wins in that capacity.

While serving as Acting Head Coach, Williams guided the Wildcats to their first-ever appearance in title match of the MEAC Volleyball Championships. She was named MEAC Coach of the Year in 2015, after her team went 15-16 overall and 10-0 in the MEAC – to date, the only unblemished league record for the Wildcats in the modern era.

In the process, the Cats claimed their first MEAC Southern Division crown in school history. Bethune-Cookman finished the year winning eight of its final nine matches en route to a MEAC Tournament runner-up finish, and posted their first ever sweep of a home-and-home series with in-state opponent Florida A&M.

Williams’ 2016 season was an adversity-filled challenge with games and practices held off campus while Moore Gym underwent renovations, and an extended road trip taking place with the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew’s impact upon Daytona Beach. Still, the team persevered and finished strong, winning five of its final seven regular season games, posting a 7-3 mark in league play and advancing to the MEAC Tournament semifinals.

Williams was an assistant for the Wildcats program from 2013 through the summer of 2015. Upon her arrival, the B-CU raised its wins total each season during the early three-year timeline, including a five-win turnaround from 2014 to 2015.

A native of Sugarland, Texas, Williams was selected to attend the 2015 USOC Ethnic Minority Women in Coaching Leadership Conference to be held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Prior to her time at Bethune-Cookman, Williams served as an assistant coach at South Carolina State, as well as Southwestern University. At Southwestern, she helped guide the team to finish in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Top 25 for the 2006 campaign. She also served as head coach at Westside High School in Houston, Texas from 2008-10.

Williams played collegiately at Howard University, serving as a four-year starter for the Bison from 2001-2004. As a sophomore, she ranked 12th nationally in service aces per game in 2002. She would graduate from Howard in 2005.
 
She currently resides in Daytona Beach, Florida.