Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College Executive Director of Athletics Chad Yowell has announced the hiring of Ben Read as head women's volleyball coach, effective August 14, 2006. Read replaces Kelli Myers, who resigned after one season with the Lyons.

A graduate assistant coach during the past two seasons at the University of Connecticut, Read last headed a program when he led the Seacoast Junior Olympic squad to an 18-and-under New England title in 2004. Read was an assistant coach with the University of New Hampshire as the Wildcats won the 2002 and 2003 America East Conference tournaments and advanced to the NCAA tournaments. He also served as a volunteer assistant with UNH's men's club team during that time.

"The foundation of Wheaton Athletics has been built upon giving outstanding assistant coaches their first head coaching opportunity," said Yowell. "Ben comes with strong recommendations from some of the top Division I head coaches in the region. I believe that he will be the next in a long line of very successful coaches here at Wheaton."

While on UConn's staff, Read handled tasks ranging from player training to video breakdown to scheduling team travel. The Huskies went 32-24 during his tenure. Read aided the Wildcats to a 46-23 record in two years at UNH, including a 23-3 America East mark.

"I'm very excited to have a chance to work with my own team, and developing a new team and a new atmosphere," said Read. "My goals are to teach and challenge the players each day, and that can lead to success on and off the court. The players talked about having moral victories last year, taking points from some of the stronger teams in the region. Hopefully we can pull together points like that this year and move up a couple places in the conference."

A two-year club volleyball player at UNH, Read saw action as an outside hitter and setter during his career and captained the squad as a senior. The 2002 cum laude graduate majored in kinesiology and exercise science. Read is currently working toward his master's degree in sport management and sociology at UConn.

Wheaton is a selective national liberal arts college with 1,550 students drawn from virtually every state and more than 60 countries. The college combines a traditional curriculum in the arts and sciences with an innovative emphasis on real-world experience - internships, jobs and volunteer service - to help students make the connection between theory and practice. Its students gain admission to the nation's most prestigious graduate programs and regularly win competitive academic awards such as the Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright scholarships.

Wheaton (Mass.) Transaction - Selected Ben Read as head women's volleyball coach.