 Head
Coach
Joe Bonner
Third Year
(Frostburg State, 1997)
In two short seasons, Youngstown
State Volleyball Head Coach Joe
Bonner has already put his stamp on
the Penguins volleyball program.
Bonner, who is entering his third
season, continually dedicates his
energies to turning the Penguins
into one of the top teams in the
Horizon League and the region.
In May 2006, his recruiting class ranked in the top 100 by
prepvolleyball.com.
One of those recruits, Ruth Boscaljon, became the first
Youngstown State volleyball player
to earn First-Team All-Horizon
League and just the second player in
school history to garner the
newcomer-of-the-year award.
Utilizing three freshmen and two limited-experienced
sophomores for much of the 2006
season, the Penguins turned in a
three-match improvement in the win
column from Bonner’s first year.
Boscaljon set a Youngstown State
freshman record with 363 kills and
115 blocks while sophomore setter
Karla Everhart dished out 1,125
assists.
During his initial campaign, Bonner guided the Penguins
through an injury-plagued 7-22
season, but he instilled a strong
competitive desire. Included in the
Penguins’ losses were five five-game
setbacks, all to Horizon League
foes.
Abby Ettenhofer, Katie Shea and Crystal Duncan each capped
their playing days with career-best
numbers. Ettenhofer led the team
with 334 kills while Shea owned a
team-best 106 blocks and Duncan
added 173 kills and 153 digs.
Bonner’s players also made strides off the court. Ettenhofer,
the president of YSU’s
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee,
was named Second-Team Academic
All-America, becoming just the
second YSU volleyball player to
accomplish that feat.
Bonner was named the seventh head coach of the Youngstown
State volleyball program on Feb. 4,
2005, after spending two seasons as
the top assistant coach at the
University of Dayton.
Bonner helped the Flyers to a
two-year mark of 49-16, including a
23-9 overall ledger in 2004, and two
straight trips to the NCAA
Tournament.
In 2004, the Flyers also won their second straight
Atlantic-10 regular-season
championship with a 12-2 conference
mark. While at Dayton, Bonner worked
primarily with the middle hitters
and blockers. In addition to his
on-court duties, he was responsible
for team travel, game operations and
assisting with recruiting.
Prior to Dayton, Bonner, who has been to five NCAA
Tournaments, spent three seasons as
an assistant coach at Robert Morris
(2000-2002) and helped the Colonials
to three consecutive Northeast
Conference titles and three straight
NCAA Tournaments.
While at Robert Morris, Bonner was responsible for the
development of the middle hitters.
Under his guidance, four middle
hitters received all-conference
honors and one earned NEC
Player-of-the-Year accolades for two
consecutive years.
He also was the travel and recruiting coordinator and served
as the team’s strength and
conditioning coach.
Outside of the college realm, Bonner also has four years of
collegiate club volleyball coaching
experience.
A 1997 graduate of Frostburg State University, Bonner’s club
team made two national tournament
appearances, as well as three years
of USAV competition.
A native of Huntingtown, Md., Bonner received a Bachelor of
Science degree in Economics from
Frostburg State.
Joe and his wife, Kelly, who was a four-year volleyball
letterwinner at Mars Hills College,
reside in Austintown, Ohio. |
