STANDISH, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College Department of Athletics has announced that Yamile Nolan has stepped down from her position as the head coach of the SJC women's volleyball program. Nolan, who skippered the Monks for six seasons (2010-15), has accepted a head coaching post at Dominican University of California, an NCAA DII institution located near San Francisco.
Quite familiar with the west coast, Nolan grew up near Los Angeles and played two years for El Camino College before transferring to NCAA DI program UC-Santa Barbara, where she helped the Gauchos earn national tournament berths in each of her two seasons.
Nolan departs after posting a 112-74 (.602) record, including a 38-32 (.543) mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, over the last six seasons. She guided the 2015 team to the most successful season in program history, as last year's squad was 27-6 (.818) overall with an 8-3 (.727) mark in GNAC play and notched the Monks' first GNAC Tournament victory, a 3-2 quarterfinal decision over Simmons College, on November 3rd.
During her time at Saint Joseph's, Nolan coached six All-Conference players, including 2015 First Team honorees Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) and Jennelle Thompson (Farmington, N.H.) and Third Team recipients Mariah Hebert (Biddeford, Maine) and Victoria Huntley (Ellsworth, Maine). In addition, Wachowiak and Thompson became the first SJC volleyball players to garner major postseason honors as the former claimed 2015 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year acclaim and the latter was selected as the 2015 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Under Nolan's watch, the 2015 team set new single-season records for kills (1,141) and assists (1,028) and tied the SJC mark for digs (2,117).
Last fall, Dominican posted a 9-17 (.346) overall record with a 6-14 (.300) mark in PacWest Conference play.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
