Nancy Somera of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, has been named the 2017 AVCA Division II Natinoal Coach of the Year. Johns Hopkins University assistant Jenn Feldmann has been named the National Division II Assistant Coach of the Year. The pair will be honored, alongside other AVCA award winners, at the AVCA Convention in Kansas City on December 14th.
In her 4th season as the head coach at Johnson & Wales, Nancy Somera led the team to a perfect 35-0 regular season record: making them the only team at any level of NCAA volleyball to achieve that this season. Her team currently is on a 41-match home winning streak, which is the 9th-longest streak in NCAA history, and they lead the country in hitting percentage (.328) while ranking 3rd in opponents’ hitting percentage (.067).
While her team started the season unranked, they rose to #8 in the last AVCA poll released on November 7th – just before the start of last week’s NCAA D3 national championship tournament. That included receiving 2 first-place votes. That led to the team hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.
The team has now advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they will play the defending NCAA Champions Calvin College.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins finished their season with a 3rd-round loss in the NCAA tournament to Swarthmore College. That leaves them with a 28-4 overall record at the end of this season – and they were ranked 12th in the latest AVCA Coaches’ Poll. Feldmann is in her 8th season as a Johns Hopkins, which has seem the team compile a 164-68 record. For the Blue Jays, Feldmann’s primary duties include assisting with recruitment and scouting opponents as well as coordinating block scheme and defense.
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