July 19, 2002
Flagstaff, Az. - Michelle Hansen, head volleyball coach at Western Carolina for the past five seasons, has been named the new head volleyball coach of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, athletics director Steve Holton announced Friday. Hansen replaces Kelley Sliva, who is now the head coach at the University of New Mexico. Hansen will be the eighth head coach in the program's history, which begins its 29th season of varsity play this fall.
Hansen, a San Diego, Calif., native, has been the head coach at WCU since 1997 and has had a successful stint at the Cullowhee, N.C. school. Prior to her arrival, WCU hadn't won as many as 15 matches in a single season since 1992. The Catamounts enter 2002 with a four year 20 + win streak, the longest in the Southern Conference. In her five seasons as a Division I head coach, Hansen has compiled a 99-71 (.582) overall record. The Catamounts were 21-11 overall last year and finished third in the SoCon with a 15-5 mark. During the 2000-01 season, Hansen was also an assistant coach for the U.S. Women's Deaf National Team, helping the U.S. to the silver medal at the 2001 Deaf Olympics in Rome, Italy.
"I'm really excited about this opportunity at Northern Arizona," said Hansen. "However, coaching at Western Carolina has been an excellent growing experience for me. I want to thank Jeff Compher as well as the entire WCU administration for all the support and care that they have shown to me personally and to the volleyball program. I will greatly miss all of my Catamount family and friends."
Prior to WCU, Hansen spent two years as an assistant coach at Utah State (1995-96) and two years as the head coach at Division II Lake Superior State (1993-94). She was also a graduate assistant at Idaho State (1992) and served two season as the varsity head coach at Paso Robles (Calif.) High School, where she posted a perfect record in league play.
She was a four-year standout at Cal Poly-SLO in her collegiate days, earning All-America status as an outside hitter during her senior year in 1989. She was twice named the school's Female Athlete of the Year and still owns nine program records.
