Head Coach Michele Benoit 
(513) 244-4316     Michele_Benoit@mail.msj.edu

Michele Benoit begins her 13th season this fall as head coach of the Lions. She’s the College’s all-time win leader as head volleyball coach (351-109), having captured her 300th win at the Mount on Sept. 9, 2005, with a victory over Central (IA) College. The Lions also recorded the 1,000^th win in the volleyball team’s history during the 2005 season. Benoit has moved the Mount’s program to a nationally-ranked Division III power and a top-25 AVCA ranking throughout most of the last several years, finishing the 2001 season ranked sixth and the 2002 and 2004 seasons ranked eighth. In addition, Benoit has seen many of her players win all-conference, all-region, and All-America awards as well as academic all-conference, academic all-district and academic All-America awards.

Coming into the 2007 season, Benoit is ranked eighth in winning percentage among Division III coaches with a minimum of five years coached at that level, with a .763 percentage. She is ranked 27^th among active Division III coaches with 351 wins.

Benoit is also an assistant athletic director at the College and the Mount’s senior women’s administrator. She was appointed recently by the NCAA to serve as a member of the Division III Volleyball Committee. She is also the chair of the Great Lakes all-region selection committee and a voter for the all-region team. In May, 2007 she was given the College Coach of the Year Award by the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Women’s Sports Association. 

During her tenure at the Mount, her teams have produced seven straight 30-plus win seasons (1998-2004); nine consecutive NCAA Division III regional appearances (1998-2006); three NCAA Division III quarterfinal finishes (1999-2001); and nine straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championships (1998-2006). Her Mount teams have won 351 of 460 matches, including 80 of 81 HCAC matches, which have produced eight HCAC regular season titles in nine years of play. She is a four-time HCAC Coach of the Year recipient, capturing the award during the 1998 and 1999 seasons, as well as the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Benoit was also NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2001. In addition, Benoit has the longest, active head-coaching career at the Mount.

Coach Benoit came to the Mount after developing a successful volleyball program at Magnificat High School in Rocky River, Ohio. During her seven seasons there as head coach, she compiled a 115-33 record as she led her team to an Ohio High School semi-final appearance in 1991 and regional championships in 1990 and 1992. Her efforts earned her District Coach of the Year in 1992. She also earned the OHSVBCA Achievement Award in 1991 and 1992.

Benoit played in college at NCAA Division II Ashland University where she served as team captain in 1986 and was voted Best Defensive Player in 1985 and 1986. She also received her team’s Coaches Award in 1986.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Ashland in 1987 and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Akron in 1995.

Benoit lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mount Head Women’s Volleyball Coaches’ Records

* HCAC Win-Loss records include regular season and tournament.

Assistant Coach Erin Pauley            
(513) 244-3276     Erin_Pauley@mail.msj.edu

Erin Pauley returns for her third season as a Lions’ assistant coach. She joined the Mount in July 2005 as a full-time coach, with the duties of being an assistant volleyball coach and an assistant track & field coach.

Pauley completed her master’s degree in coaching education at Ohio University in June 2005. She has also passed the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Exam.

She received her bachelor’s degree in allied health from Marietta College in 2004, where she was a setter and defensive specialist for the school’s volleyball team for four seasons. The Roger Bacon High School graduate has also coached for the Lineshot Volleyball Club in Cincinnati for ten years.

In addition, Pauley has a USA Volleyball Coaching Accreditation Program Level I and II Certification and passed the American Red Cross Adult CPR. Erin is also the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Advisor at the Mount.

Pauley, and her husband Justin, reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Assistant Coach Beth Sander 

Beth Sander returns for her second season as assistant coach with the Mount.

She is a 1998 graduate of Roger Bacon High School, where she played volleyball for three seasons, and a 2002 graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and Education. She is currently attending Xavier University where she is working on completing her master’s degree in education.

She played one season of volleyball while at Shawnee State University and two years of volleyball for UC-Clermont, winning all-conference honors on their conference championship team.

Sander was head junior varsity coach at Purcell Marian High School (2002) and head varsity coach at Wyoming High School (2003-2004), where she won league Coach of the Year honors. In addition she was the head junior varsity coach at DePree (Wisconsin) High School (2004-2006). She has also coached for the Lineshot Volleyball Club in Cincinnati since 1999.

She and her husband, B.J., reside in Colerain Township (Cincinnati, Ohio) with their daughter, Kelsey.