Tanya Cadena enters her first season as an assistant volleyball coach at Southern Connecticut State.
Cadena graduated from UMass Boston in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. As a player, she led Framingham High School to a 23-1 record and the Massachusetts Central Sectional finals as a senior outside hitter. She started every match as a freshman at UMass Boston, earned Little East Rookie of the Week twice and ranked eighth in the conference in aces. She was later recruited to represent a U.S. team at the Venus Tournament in Jamaica and has continued competing in Yankee tournaments, adult nationals and outdoor grass doubles.
Her coaching resume includes stints with Husky Volleyball Club in Newington and Northeast Volleyball Club in Norwalk, where she has coached boys and girls teams at the 14U through 17U levels, including academy and club programs. She also served as freshman girls coach and assistant varsity coach at Newington High School from 2023-25 and assistant varsity coach at Kingswood Oxford from 2025-26.
At Southern, Cadena supports daily operations including skill-specific training, practice planning and in-game decision-making. She specializes in developing outside hitters with an emphasis on approach mechanics, shot selection and transition efficiency, and leads defensive training for liberos and defensive specialists while collaborating with setters on tempo and connection.
Cadena is from Framingham, Mass., is a sister to triplets and her son currently competes for Wheaton College men's volleyball.Â
