Allegheny College Athletics

Bridget Sheehan served as the Gator volleyball coach from 1986-2017, amassing a career record of 635-484 to retire as the winningest coach in the history of Allegheny College athletics.  She was a three-time North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, leading the Gators to four NCAC titles and four trips to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. 

The only volleyball coach in North Coast Athletic Conference history to surpass 600 career wins, Sheehan's teams won over 20 matches in 14 different seasons, including four seasons with over 30 victories, while they qualified for the NCAC Championship Tournament in 23 of her 30 seasons on the sideline. Upon taking over the program in 1986, the Gators enjoyed immediate success. In just her second year at the helm in 1987, she was named NCAA East Region Coach of the Year after leading the squad to a 42-5 record, including a 37-match winning streak.  The next season, the Gators set a program record with 44 wins, and captured the first of four straight NCAC titles.  The Gators went 30-14 in 1990 and 27-15 in 1991, earning NCAA berths each season, before the 1994 and '95 teams each won 35 matches.

Sheehan joined the exclusive 500-win club with a 3-0 victory over Piedmont College in 2005, while in 2008, she guided the Gators to a program-record 11 NCAC victories, and their 20th NCAC tournament appearance in 25 years.  In the opening match of the 2014 season, Sheehan guided the Gators to a 3-0 sweep of Waynesburg to become just the 23rd coach in NCAA Division III history to surpass the 600-win plateau.

In all, Sheehan coached over 80 All-NCAC honorees, nine All-Region selections, three All-Americans, three NCAC Players of the Year, and two CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees, while six of her former athletes (Molly Dietz, Carol Frederick, Renea Surrena Gaus, Sue Plyler Scott, Laurie Machuga, and Vicki Kajder) are fellow members of the Allegheny Hall of Fame.