Mo McKenney

McKenney joined the Clemson staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in January 2025. She has an emphasis on building Clemson Volleyball’s on Simpson Kirr’s “Own Today” vision that includes Gratitude, Grit and Grace to connect the past, present and future Tigers together. She also is the connection between Clemson Volleyball and IPTAY to help build and grow the ACEs Club while strengthening the alumni outreach. On the court, McKenney serves as the offensive analyst and lead coach for attacking.

In her first year on staff, McKenney helped the Tigers to an 18-win season for the 32nd time in program history. The victories were highlighted by opening with a perfect 12-0 non-conference slate – including 9-0 at home – to mark the best record to begin a season since 1990 and the longest winning streak since 2007. Clemson’s 11 home wins also were the most since 2014. Kicking off the season on a high note, the team defeated in-state rival South Carolina for the first time since 2023 and claimed a victory in Columbia for the first time since 1994. The Tigers also defeated California for the first time, took a set from No. 5 Stanford and defeated Syracuse twice to mark four-straight wins against the Orange. For the first time since 2010, the Tigers also defeated Florida State to snap a 20-game losing streak against the Seminoles and claimed the victory in Tallahassee for the first road win against FSU since 2007. Helping the program’s attacking efforts, McKenney guided the Tigers to accumulating 1,497 kills (12.91) for the most since 2022 and clocked a 12.09 assist per set pace for the highest average since 2018. Clemson also tallied 4,158 total team attacks which sat second in the ACC at the end of the year.

McKenney returned to Clemson after a standout career as a Tiger where she was an honorable mention AVCA All-American and First Team All-ACC selection. Formally Mo Simmons, she finished her playing career in the Orange and Regalia in 2013 and remains a fixture in the Clemson Volleyball record book, including being only one of five athletes in the “All-Around Club” that consists of having over 500 kills (1,376), 1,000 digs (1,068) and 200 blocks (338) during her career. She is also one of only seven athletes to record over 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills during their career at Clemson before she went on to play professionally.

During the 2015-16 Swedish League season, McKenney was named the top outside hitter as well as the second-best hitter in the circuit. As a result, she was selected to the Swedish League All-Star Team. McKenney gained additional international experience in 2011 when she was a member of the USA Women’s Junior National Team that placed fourth at the FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship in Peru.

“We are thrilled to welcome Moneshia back to Clemson,” said Simpson Kirr. “Her storied playing career, both here and professionally, combined with her vision for recruiting and passion for our program’s legacy, makes her the perfect fit to help us build toward the future.”

McKenney joins the Clemson staff after serving as the head indoor coach of Davis and Elkins College (2023-24) and head indoor and beach coach at LaGrange College (2021-23). She was also the interim head coach at East Carolina University from March 2020 to June 2020 after serving as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Pirates from 2018-20. Through her multitude of roles, McKenney has managed on-campus official and unofficial visits, taken the lead on alumni relations and assisted with additional team bonding, life skills and practice planning for her programs. She also has experience overseeing season budgets, running camps and clinics and watching film to create scouting reports against all competition.