American University

Louella Maxwell joined the American University volleyball staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 2018. She came to AU after three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgetown.

Prior to her time with the Hoyas, Maxwell spent four years as an assistant coach at the US Air Force Academy, where she played for two seasons in the early 90s. She has also had coaching stints at Notre Dame (2003-06) and Washington University in St. Louis (2007-08).

Maxwell, formerly Louella Lovely, is one of five NCAA All-Americans in Air Force history. Despite playing just two seasons, she remains ranked among the Academy's top-10 lists in career assists (3,022) and digs (1,352), while holding program-best marks in career assists per game (10.87) and digs per game (4.93). In addition to holding the team's single-season record with 5.13 digs per game, Maxwell holds the single-match records in assists (83) and digs (45).

During her two-year stint at Washington University in St. Louis, the Bears compiled a 65-12 record and won the 2007 NCAA Division III national championship title. The squad also advanced to the regional championship game in 2008. In Maxwell's four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame, the Irish accumulated a 92-34 overall record, three BIG EAST regular-season titles, a pair of conference-tournament championships and four trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Maxwell also spent time as a volunteer coach at California in 1998 and coached for the Golden Bear Volleyball Club from 1999-2003. She served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Girls Youth National A2 Training Team in 2008 and was an assistant for the U.S. Girls Select A1 Team in 2007. In 2005 and 2006, she was an assistant for the U.S. Junior National A2 Team.

Maxwell spent her freshman and sophomore seasons at the Air Force Academy, garnering AVCA all-region honors both years and AVCA All-America honors in 1994. She spent the 1995 season at Cal, before finishing out her collegiate career at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. As a member of the Mustang squad, Maxwell was named the Big West Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and received the NCAA Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarship.

A native of Kingsport, Tenn., Maxwell graduated from Cal Poly SLO in 1997 with a degree in history. She completed her master's degree in education from Cal. Maxwell is married to Colonel Mel Maxwell, a 1997 graduate of the Air Force Academy. They have two daughters.