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by Kiley Molinari and Caitlin Beagan
Exchange Staff

    Alumni Michelle McConnell has come back to the Ravens lineup, not as a player, but to sit beside head coach Sharon Bonaventure as an assistant coach. 

     McConnell applied for the assistant coach's position when she knew she was coming back to Franklin Pierce to take courses as a graduate student.  McConnell, also known as Goose, was the Raven’s starting libero and co-captain of the volleyball team last season.  A libero is a player who wears a different color than the rest of the team and only plays in the three positions in the back row of the court. 

     Now the only gear McConnell needs as she steps onto the court is her clipboard and pen. "It is different being on the bench with a stat sheet, rather than on the court playing," said McConnell.

    This is McConnell's first coaching job. "I understand more now  being a coach than when I was a player. I understand why coaches punish, teach, and do the things they do," she said.

    Since McConnell graduated in 2007, she is coaching the same group she once played with. Although she is now an authoritative figure, there are some advantages from playing with the athletes first and then being able to coach them. "I know their quirks and what ticks them off. I know what motivates them and what helps them to get out of their slumps," said McConnell. 

    Head coach Sharon Bonaventure hired McConnell for the 2007 season, saying it was "a way for her to reconnect with the team."  Bonaventure said McConnell's personality, "go-getter" attitude, and the many hours she spent with the team are what made her such an excellent candidate for the job.

    This season the team's goal is to make it to the NCAA's.  This goal is within reach "if we can stay on course and beat the teams we can beat," said Bonaventure.

    Bonaventure, an eleven-year coaching veteran, is in her second year coaching at Franklin Pierce.

    The next volleyball game is Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m. at Southern Connecticut State University.