Kiko Santos | Head Coach

Kiko Santos was hired to take over the Newberry College women's volleyball program in the spring of 2023, entering his first season in the fall.

Santos joins the Wolves after spending the past 12 seasons with the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville where he compiled an overall record of 135-166 as well as a 76-88 record in Big South Conference matches. As a head coach, Santos boasts a 181-197 record in 14 seasons, including a 46-31 mark at Barry University. He has coached 18 all-conference players, six all-freshman team honorees, two All-Americans and one conference and region player of the year.

As the Bulldogs' head coach, Santos coached 15 all-conference players and three all-freshmen. Cindi Miller, Anna Moore, Rachel Wells, Cara Guthrie and Julia Borges all earned first-team honors while with the program. He took three teams to the semifinals of the Big South Conference Tournament (2011, 2012 and 2019) and former Bulldog Rachel Wells led the nation in digs in 2013, earning her a tryout with the U.S. National Team.

Prior to becoming the head coach at UNC Asheville, Santos was the head coach at Barry University for three seasons. In his three seasons at Barry, Santos led the Buccaneers to a 46-31 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament in 2010. That 2010 squad posted a 16-7 overall record and an 11-5 mark in Sunshine State Conference play. The Bucs picked up key wins over No. 22 Saint Leo and 25th-ranked Rollins during the regular season. The Bucs capped their season by returning to the NCAA South Region Tournament for the first time since 2006.

Under Santos' guidance, Julia Teixeira earned Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year honors as well as Daktronics South Region Player of the Year plaudits. She was also named a first-team All-American by both Daktronics and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Camilla Pagnan also earned AVCA All-American honors. In addition to Teixeira and Pagnan, Lauren Evans and Ady Alcantara earned All-SSC honors while playing for Santos and Libby Walter and Leah Muys were named to the SSC All-Freshman team.

A native of Brazil, Santos has more than 20 years of international playing and coaching experience at all levels of the sport. Before taking over at Barry, Santos spent eight seasons at UNC Asheville, including the last three as Associate Head Coach under former head coach Julie Torbett. Santos assisted in all phases of the Bulldog program, including recruiting, on-court coaching, travel and pre-game setup. During his first stint at Asheville, Santos helped the Bulldogs to a 135-124 overall record. The Bulldogs reached the Big South Conference Championship match three times during his first tenure and won the regular-season championship in 2002. The 2002 team was the most improved team in the country that season as Asheville finished with a 26-8 record.

Santos has been playing volleyball his entire life, beginning with club teams in Rio de Janeiro. He moved to Reno, Nev., in 1990 and starred for the University of Nevada-Reno club team from 1992-1996 as a setter. His club team was ranked fifth nationally by USA Today. In 1998, Santos played for the Reno Volleyball club team as both a setter and outside hitter, leading the club to the USAV Nationals in Tucson, Ariz.

His coaching experience includes stops in Brazil, Iceland, Poland, Switzerland and Reno. Santos coached the Stjarnan Club team in Reykjavik, Iceland. He led the club to a 7-3 record in 2000 and a first place finish in the fall tournament. The team also finished runner-up in the Icelandic Cup and Icelandic Championships. Santos has also worked with the men's and women's Brazilian national teams, which are among the best in the world.

He earned his bachelor's degree in the spring of 2007 from UNC Asheville.

Payton Duncan | Assistant Coach

Payton Duncan joins the Newberry College volleyball coaching staff in the 2023 season. Duncan has had coaching experience on the high school, college, and club levels.

Before Newberry, Duncan was a coach and an administrator for the Stars Sports Volleyball Club in Savannah, Ga. While at Stars Sports,  Duncan assisted in coordinating programs both in the Upstate and Columbia. Duncan coached ages 12-16 and had led the 15u team to several tournament championships. 

Before Stars Sports, Duncan was a graduate assistant coach at Converse University during the 2019 season. As a graduate assistant, Duncan had planned road trips, coaching the pin hitters and the defensive specialists, and helped the Valkyries make back-to-back Conference Carolina's postseason tournaments.

Duncan had a stellar playing career in college. As an athlete, Duncan was named to the 2018 UNC Charlotte Invitational All-Tournament Team as well as the 2018 Golden Eagle Invitational All-Tournament team at USC Upstate. Duncan transferred to USC Upstate from Erskine where she was named the 2015 Conference Carolina's Freshman of the Year along with earning first team all-conference honors. In 2015, Duncan helped lead the Flying Fleet to the NCAA tournament where she was named to the all-tournament team.

Duncan currently resides in Gaffney, S.C.