Former professional athlete and NCAA Division I champion Lauren Bowers joined the Mountain Lions in January 2025 as the UCCS Assistant Volleyball Coach.
A junior club volleyball coach since 2008, Bowers came to UCCS after spending the past two and a half years at Colorado Juniors. Prior to coaching at Colorado Juniors, she spent time at multiple junior volleyball club programs, including Michio Chicago Volleyball Academy, Wildcat Juniors, and First Alliance/City Lions.
Bowers most recently coached at the collegiate level from 2019-21 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also served as the recruiting coordinator. She helped the Flames complete their first 20-win season in over 20 years while finishing the preseason and conference season with a winning record. She was part of a coaching staff that coached three Flames to All-Horizon League First Team honors, a Horizon League Freshman of the Year and four student-athletes earn conference Player of the Week awards.
Preceding her time at UIC, Bowers was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Loyola University Chicago from 2014-18. She helped the Ramblers record program milestones in conference wins, top-25 wins, a top-30 recruiting class, and becoming post-season eligible. In her time at LUC, the Ramblers accounted for six MVC all-conference players and nine Player of the Week honorees.
Bowers began her collegiate coaching career at Colorado State University in 2013-14. During her time at CSU, the Rams won the Mountain West Conference and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Aurora, Colo. native assisted the program in various administrative functions relating to team schedules, and travel arrangements and developed marketing plans.
The Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year at Grandview High School, Bowers was a four-year varsity letter winner at the University of California-Los Angeles. A setter who recorded 2,593 assists, she was the team captain who helped the Bruins win the 2011 NCAA National Championship. An All-American, Bowers was also named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team and All-PAC 12 First Team. She graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, before playing professionally for VC Kanti in Switzerland and in Puerto Rico.
