Hal Clifton became the ninth head coach in North Carolina A&T volleyball history on August 2, 2011, when Director of Athletics Earl Hilton announced his appointment. He came to A&T to lead the Aggies back to the success they enjoyed during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Now, he enters the 2026 season with a strong chance of becoming A&T’s all-time winningest coach. Clifton has 158 wins, five shy of Kathy Bullock’s 162 at A&T from 1994-03. He has exceeded expectations after the Aggies transitioned from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) to the Big South and then the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
The Aggies have qualified for the CAA tournament over the past two seasons, earning back-to-back winning seasons behind 2024 CAA Rookie of the Year Tyne Ross. The prior season, Kaili Doctor secured the 2023 CAA Rookie of the Year, giving the program back-to-back rookies of the year for the first time in program history. In 2024, Clifton led the Aggies to their third National Invitational Volleyball Championship tournament during his tenure.
Before the transition to new conferences, Clifton helped the Aggies earn their one and only MEAC tournament title. In the postponed 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic, he led the program to the 2020 MEAC title in the spring of 2021. The Aggies won thanks to a thrilling 3-2 semifinal victory over Delaware State and a four-set win over Coppin State in the final.
The Aggies also won two regular-season MEAC titles under Clifton. Before the 2022 season, he led them to five straight seasons of finishing .500 or better, including four above .500. The Aggies also made three consecutive postseason appearances. They earned bids to the 2019 and 2021 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) tournaments. They also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the spring of 2021, where they received a win by forfeit over Rice before losing to Penn State.
Before the Aggies departed the MEAC in 2021 for the Big South Conference, Clifton led them to eight straight MEAC tournaments. When they made the MEAC tournament in 2013, it was their first appearance since 2007. In 2022, Clifton led the Aggies' transition from the MEAC to the Big South. A year later, they moved to the CAA. In their first Big South season, they went 20-11 overall and 11-5 in the league. It was the Aggies' first 20-plus-win season under Clifton and their first 20-win season since 2005. Â
A&T entered the Big South Championship as the No. 4 seed and defeated USC Upstate 3-1 in the quarterfinals before losing to top-seeded High Point University. That season, A&T volleyball earned its first-ever Power Five win by defeating the ACC's Virginia Tech Hokies 3-2 on Sept. 18 to win the Hokie Invitational.
In A&T's final season in the MEAC, Clifton led the team to an 11-2 regular season, including an 8-0 conference record and a win over East Carolina. In 2019, the Aggies won their first regular-season MEAC title since 1998, and in 2018, they advanced to the MEAC tournament championship match for the first time since 2005.
Clifton has also strengthened the Aggies' recruiting efforts. Setter/right side Edie Brewer will go down as an all-time great in A&T Athletics history. Brewer, one of the most versatile players in program history, won MEAC Player of the Year honors in 2019 and 2020. She also received three first-team all-conference honors, two in the MEAC and one in the Big South. In addition, Brewer is a three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-South Region performer, and she was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the MEAC tournament in the spring of 2021, becoming only the third player in program history to earn the honor.
Brewer ranks in the top 10 in school history in five categories. She is second in assists (2,171), fifth in service aces (135), sixth in block assists (155), eighth in digs (783), and 10th in kills (709). Brewer finished her career with 29 double-doubles and a record nine triple-doubles.
Clifton has coached two of the four Aggies to eclipse the 1,000-career dig mark: Ashley Johnson, who holds the school record with 1,576, and Andrea Laboy-Rivera, who finished with 1,067. Johnson was a first-team All-MEAC selection in 2012 and a third-team selection in 2015. Laboy-Rivera was a second-team All-MEAC selection in 2020 and on the All-MEAC Rookie Team in 2018.
Three Aggies have reached the 1,000-kill mark under Clifton: Brooke Stamnes, Courteney Pitt, and Naiya Sawtelle. Stamnes was selected second-team All-MEAC, and Pitt received first-team All-MEAC honors in three consecutive seasons (2018-20). She also earned All-MEAC Rookie Team honors in 2017. Meanwhile, Sawtelle earned all-conference honors in the Big South and the CAA, securing first-team All-CAA honors in 2023.
The volleyball program also remains one of the top academic programs. The program has had a multi-year NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) above 980. A perfect score is 1,000, and a below-average score is 930.
Clifton came to A&T after his sixth season as assistant coach of the Elon Phoenix. He came to Elon University in August 2005 from St. Andrews Presbyterian College and served as assistant coach for the 2004 season. At St. Andrews, Clifton helped lead the team to the NCAA Division II Tournament and a regional ranking of seventh. The team tied a school record with 14 conference victories and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Clifton coached four all-conference athletes at St. Andrews and one conference freshman of the year.
Before his stint at St. Andrews, Clifton spent three years as head coach at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, N.C. There, he posted a 62-20 overall record, including a 28-2 season. Clifton was a three-time Mid-Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year and the 2003 Cape Fear Region Coach of the Year. He led Jack Britt to consecutive conference championships and state tournament appearances in 2002 and '03. Clifton coached three Mid-Southeastern Conference players of the year and nine all-conference selections.
Clifton also served as head coach of the Carolina Region High-Performance club team for six seasons (2002-07). In 2003 and '04, he coached the developmental team before becoming the head coach of the youth team in 2005. Clifton also spent three seasons as a head coach with the Fayetteville Area Volleyball Association. His 17-and-under team won the Carolina Regional Championship and three other tournaments in 2002.
Clifton graduated with a B.S. in athletic training from Appalachian State University in 1994, where he played for the men's volleyball club team. At Appalachian State, Clifton received the Ron H. "Doc" Kannoy Award for being the most outstanding athletic trainer.
He earned his master's in exercise and sport science from the University of Florida in 1996. At Florida, Clifton served as the athletic trainer for the World University Volleyball team as the Gators trained and played exhibition matches throughout the state before traveling to Japan for competition. As an athletic trainer at Florida, Clifton worked with the 1994 Southeastern Conference champion football team and the top-ranked men's tennis and men's golf programs.
Clifton and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.
