Former Sul Ross State volleyball coach Lynn dies at 86

ALPINE, Texas (AP) - Billie Lynn, a former national champion volleyball coach at Sul Ross State, has died in New Mexico following a lengthy illness.

The school in Alpine, Texas, announced Tuesday that Lynn died Thanksgiving Day in Carlsbad, New Mexico, where she lived. Lynn was 86. She had cancer.

A graveside service was planned Friday in Carlsbad.

Lynn guided the Lady Lobos to back-to-back national titles. Her teams, in the 1969-70 and 1970-71 seasons, won the first two Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Volleyball National Championships. The AIAW governed women's sports prior to NCAA recognition.

Lynn was the mother of former Tennessee volleyball coach Sandy Lynn, who died in 2001 as a result of a fall while hiking near Carlsbad. Sandy Lynn coached the Lady Volunteers from 1987 to 1990.

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This story has been corrected to show the association abbreviation is AIAW, not AWAI.