Since coming to Allegheny as the head volleyball coach in the fall of 1986, Bridget Sheehan has built one of the most successful NCAA Division III programs in the country.
It did not take long for Sheehan to catapult her program to regional and national prominence. In just her second year at the helm, she led the 1987 squad to a 42-5 record, which included a school-record 37 straight wins, en route to the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The following year was even better as she set a program record for wins with a record of 44-9. In that year the Gators captured the first of four straight North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships.
A two-time NCAC Coach of the Year (1987, 1990), Sheehan’s Gators have qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament four times (1987, 1988, 1990, 1991), and compiled a remarkable 573-386 record, an average of nearly 23 wins per season. Allegheny has also been ranked among the nation’s top 20 four times and won four conference championships (1988-91).
Recent history has seen Sheehan’s squads produce achievements never before accomplished at the school. Her 2003 team put together an attack percentage of .317, ranking fifth in the nation at seasons’ end, and shattering the old school mark. That squad went on to set four team records that still stand, and setter Vicki Kajder became the third player under Sheehan to be tabbed as an All-American.
In addition to national recognition, 69 all-conference certificates have been handed out to Gators, including three-time NCAC Player of the Year Molly Dietz (1989-91), and 1987 NCAC Co-Player of the Year Carol Frederick. In 2004, Traci Stoner set a pair of firsts for the program becoming the first All-Great Lakes Region Player of the Year, and also being named the Great Lakes Region Newcomer of the Year that same year. In total Sheehan has mentored eight all-region honorees, and four of those honorees received all-region recognition multiple years.
Aside from coaching, Sheehan has been an active member in the volleyball community, serving as a member of several committees including the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III National Ranking Committee, the NCAA Division III All-America Committee, and the NCAA Regional Selection Committee.
Prior to coming to Allegheny Sheehan was a coach in the high school ranks, serving as an assistant volleyball coach at Maplewood High School from 1979-82 before she moved on to Cochranton High School where she served as a junior high school basketball coach from 1980-84, and the head volleyball and basketball coach from 1984-86.
Sheehan, who graduated from Slippery Rock University in 1977 with a degree in Economics, was a four-year starter in volleyball, and served as the team captain in her senior campaign. She also received a master’s degree in Sports Administration from her alma mater in 1990. In 2008, Sheehan was inducted into the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame.
