Adrianna Blackman - Volleyball Coach - Colorado State Athletics

Adrianna Blackman

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
adrianna.culbert@colostate.edu

Adrianna Blackman (Culbert) enters her fifth season with Colorado State volleyball in 2023. The assistant returned to her alma mater after being hired by previous Head Coach Tom Hilbert June 17, 2019. When Head Coach Emily Kohan was announced to be the successor to Hilbert in December of 2022, Blackman's role as an Assistant Coach to Kohan remained in tack.
Blackman oversees the team's blocking strategy, working primarily with the middle blockers and assisting in recruiting, opponent scout and handling all team technology.

While coaching at Colorado State, she has helped the Rams to a pair of Mountain West titles and two postseason berths. She also has helped CSU to 17 Mountain West All-Conference Awards, including a program and Mountain West record six honorees in 2021. Blackman has also helped guide three AVCA All-Region honorees and Honorable Mention All-American Katie Oleksak.

In her first season on bench, she helped lead middle blocker Paulina Hougaard-Jensen to a .471 hitting average, which led the Mountain West and finished No. 2 in the country. The Rams' defense also led the Mountain West and nation in 2019 in opponent hitting with a .111 mark, which was the first time in program history earning a No. 1 spot in a team category. The defense also finished No. 4 in the country in blocks per set (2.94), while the offense led the league and finished No. 11 in the nation with a .285 efficiency.

Blackman was named to the 2020 Volleyball Magazine 40 under 40 Coaching Hotshots and serves on the AVCA Assistant Coaches Committee as a Guest Speaker Chair. Most recently, she wasn named to the AVCA Thirty Under 30 in 2022.

Blackman played four seasons for Colorado State (2012-15), winning four Mountain West championships and finishing a remarkable career, earning more than 25 awards and honors during her time in the Green and Gold. As a senior, she recorded the NCAA's first quadruple-double in more than five years, collecting 10 kills, 11 blocks, 20 assists and 13 digs against San Jose State. She was named the Mountain West Player of the Year and a third-team AVCA All-American at the conclusion of the season, and was named the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame female collegiate athlete of the year. She also was a coach at NORCO Volleyball Club during her playing career at Colorado State.

After finishing her undergraduate degree, Blackman attended the University of South Carolina as a graduate student, playing one season on the beach volleyball team and earning a spot with USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Pairs Championship in 2017. During the indoor season, she served first as a graduate student manager, before being elevated to an assistant coach. She returned to Colorado after being hired as an assistant coach at Northern Colorado in January of 2018.

Adrianna married her husband Elijah in 2020 and has twins Elianna and Israel.

Career Background