Ashley Stathas Named Lander Head Volleyball Coach

GREENWOOD – The Lander Athletic Department announced today that Ashley Stathas has been named the next head coach for the Bearcats' volleyball program.

In making the announcement, Lander Athletic Director Jeff May commented that it is exciting to have Coach Stathas, in a sense, rejoin our volleyball program after having played here several years ago.

"We are confident that Coach Stathas will provide the leadership necessary to make our volleyball team successful in the highly competitive Peach Belt Conference," said May.

Stathas, a native of Ft. Myers, Fla. who has coached the past year at Belhaven (Miss.) University, becomes the fifth coach in the history of the program and replaces Carla Decker.

"I am extremely honored to be back at Lander University as the head volleyball coach," said Stathas, who played four years at Lander and earned degrees in physical education and exercise science. "I am very excited to be coaching at a university that has such a great support system from the administration, staff, and the Greenwood community.

"Lander has some amazing facilities and resources that will be big factors in the recruiting process. I think there are great things in the future for LU volleyball and I am looking forward to the 2012 season."

Coach Stathas served as the assistant coach at NCAA Division I USC Upstate for four years.

In her only year at Belhaven, the team improved from a 9-16 season with zero conference victories to 23-13 and six league wins.