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Where Are They Now: Leland’s Alisha Glass

LELAND – Leland native and volleyball royalty Alisha Glass (Childress) is one of the most notable and recognized athletes to ever come out of northern Michigan. Many have touted her as one of the greatest high school volleyball players in the state’s history.

A graduate of 2006, Glass and her mother, head coach Laurie Glass, led the Comets to the 2006 MHSAA Class D state title and a 2005 Class D state runner-up finish. She currently ranks first all-time in career kills (3,584), career aces (937) and aces in a season (296).

She then took her talents to Penn State. As a Nittany Lion, Glass helped lead Penn State to three consecutive (2007-09) NCAA Division I national championships as a four-year starting setter.

After becoming a three-time All-American at Penn State, she was twice named USA Volleyball’s Female Indoor Athlete of the Year (2013, 2014). Glass also won gold at the 2010, 2011 and 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix.

She then went on to play professionally in Italy for Imoco Volley Conegliano.

After her lengthy international career playing for four other teams, Glass then became one of three setters to be named to the named to the U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball team for the 2016 Summer Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It marked her first ever Olympic appearance.

“It is really special, it is something that you are forever. I am always an Olympian, I was an Olympian, I am. And I think that’s a really special thing and to do it from such a small town, it’s certainly very special and I believe you can make it from anywhere,” said Glass.

Glass also led the U.S. to a silver-medal finish at the 2016 FIVB World Grand Prix in Bangkok.

After retiring from playing volleyball in 2017, Glass married Stanford alum and former NBA player Josh Childress and is now a full-time mom with three young daughters living in Orange County, California.

In January 2019, she took an assistant coaching job with the Stanford women’s volleyball program, which she later stepped away from to focus on family.

“Certainly growing up here [Leland] has impacted me as a mom. Thinking back on my experience growing up has definitely had an impact on how I want to parent and how I want to be with my kids,” added Glass.

She said she hopes to continue coaching volleyball sometime in the future.

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