Lantagne Welch Adds Matthew Botsford to Coaching Staff

June 24, 2004

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Head Volleyball Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch, along with the University of Miami announced Thursday the hiring of new assistant volleyball coach Matthew Botsford.

“We are very excited about the hiring of Matthew,” Lantagne Welch said. “As both a player and as a coach, he has been around some very good volleyball players. With his experience and his background, he is a very solid addition to our staff. Matthew also has an extremely strong work ethic and will bring a lot of energy to our team.”

“His strength in the ability to work with the outsides, middles and defensive specialists should be a great compliment to our team,” Lantagne Welch added.

Botsford comes to Miami from IUPUI where he spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the Jaguars. As part of the IUPUI coaching staff, Botsford helped lead a number of players to success on the court including, two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year Rebekah Pallikan.

Prior his three-year tenure with IUPUI, Botsford served as the head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at his alma mater Tri-State University in 1998-99 before moving on to the University of Indianapolis where he was an assistant coach during the 1999-2000 season. He has also spent time as a coach with Circle City Volleyball Club and Prairie Heights High School.

Botsford’s coaching ability is a direct reflection on his success as a player. In the spring of 2004 he played professionally in Sweden with the Vingaker Volleyball Club. As one of the team’s most dominant players leading the team in blocking and hitting percentage, Botsford helped guide Vingaker to the finals European CEV Cup for the first time in the team’s 30-year history.

He spent three years on the Midwest Professional Volleyball Association (MPVA) beach volleyball tour and in 2001, was named to the MPVA “Dream Team” consisting of the top six players on the tour. Botsford also spent time on the Extreme Volleyball Professionals (EVP) Amstel Light Tour and was named the EVP Rookie of the Year in 2000.

Botsford graduated from Tri-State University with a degree in Social Studies Education in 1998. As a player at Tri-State he was able to lead the school to their first ever NAIA/MIVA Championship in 1998 and was an All-Conference and Academic All-Conference selection all four years while finishing his career as the school’s all-time leader in kills, blocks and digs.

“Joining Coach Lantagne Welch here at Miami is an unbelievable opportunity for me,” Botsford said. “I am very eager to become a part of what she has been able to build here and look forward to improving on that success.”