Sheehan To Enter Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame

Meadville, Pa. – Allegheny head women’s volleyball coach Bridget Sheehan will be inducted into the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame, as announced by Slippery Rock University. She is one of six former Rock student-athletes who will comprise the 25th anniversary class that will be honored on Sept. 20 in the Multi Purpose Room of the University Union on the SRU campus.

A four-year member of The Rock volleyball program and team captain in her senior season, Sheehan graduated Slippery Rock with a degree in economics in 1977 and later returned to her alma mater in 1990, earning a master of science degree in athletic administration.

Hall of Fame festivities will start with a 2:30 p.m. social hour, followed by dinner and the induction ceremonies at 3:30 p.m. The inductees will also be honored during halftime of the home football game vs. Kutztown (7 p.m. kickoff) on Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

Tickets for the induction ceremony are $35 each and can be purchased from the SRU Athletic Office, 103 Morrow Field House, Slippery Rock, PA 16057 or by calling 724.738.2021.

Since coming to Allegheny as the head volleyball coach in the fall of 1986, Sheehan has built one of the most successful NCAA Division III programs in the country, leading the Gators to regional and national recognition on multiple occasions.

Under the direction of the two-time NCAC Coach of the Year (1987, 1990), the Gators have qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament four times (1987, 1988, 1990, 1991) and compiled a remarkable 533-329 record, an average of nearly 25 wins per season. Allegheny has also been ranked among the nation’s top 20 four times and won four conference championships (1988-91).

Perhaps Sheehan’s finest hour as Allegheny’s coach came in her second year at the helm when she led the 1987 squad to a 42-5 record, including a school-record 37 straight wins en route to the first appearance in the national tournament for the program. For an encore, the 1988 team followed with a record of 44-9 and captured its first NCAC Championship, which marked the beginning of a four-year reign at the top of the conference.

Recent history has Sheehan’s squads producing achievement never before accomplished at the school. The 2003 team put together an attack percentage of .317, ranking fifth in the nation at the season’s end and shattering the old school mark. That squad went on to set four team records, and setter Vicki Kajder was tabbed an All-American, the third national honor bestowed upon a player under Sheehan’s tutelage.

In addition to national recognition, 55 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, Allegheny had its first All-East Region Player of the Year selection in Rookie of the Year Traci Stoner, one of 13 all-region honorees during Sheehan’s tenure.

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. Currently, Sheehan serves on the AVCA Division III Head Coaches 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 basketball coach from 1980-84 and the head volleyball and basketball coach from 1984-86.

2008 Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees
Walter M. Esser
Lori Way Gulati
Rita Belavic Harrell
Blair S. Hildebrand
Bridget A. Sheehan
Jerry A. Skocik

To read more about the SRU Class of 2008, please click here.

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