Lantagne Welch Chosen To Coach at National A2 Program
June 22, 2012
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami head volleyball coach Nicole Lantagne Welch has been named a coach for the U.S. Women’s National A2 Team Program that will compete in Columbus, Ohio from June 26 to July 5. The program is part of USA Volleyball and helps identity prospects for the National Team.
Coach Lantagne Welch, who has been the head coach at UM since the program was restarted for the 2001 season, will be one of eight collegiate coaches from across the nation that will work with 48 athletes at the event. After a few days of training, the coaches will draft the players onto four teams that will internally compete in exhibition matches at the USA Girls’ Junior National Championships (GJNC).
“It is certainly an honor to be selected by USA Volleyball to coach our Women’s A2 Team this summer,” Lantagne Welch said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to coach and train these outstanding players that have been identified in our USA pipeline. Working with this elite group of players and coaches will be an invaluable experience for all of us.”
The 2012 U.S. Women’s National A2 Team program was selected through the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryouts held Feb. 10-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. A record 207 athletes participated in the tryout. Athletes in college and with collegiate eligibility remaining for the 2012 collegiate season not selected to join the U.S. Women’s National Team were eligible for the U.S. Women’s A2 program.
“I feel that moving the U.S. Women’s National A2 Program to be in conjunction with the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships will be a very positive move for the program,” said USA Volleyball Senior Director Tom Pingel. “The exposure and impact that the program and its athletes will have at the GJNC will far surpass that experienced at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships with the adults competing. It will also be a ‘win’ for the GJNC event and its participants.”
Lantagne Welch has guided the Hurricanes to 218 wins overall and has posted winning records in nine of the last 11 seasons. Miami is coming off one of the best campaigns in program history in 2011 with a 26-5 record that included a 16-4 mark and second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The squad additionally qualified for the NCAA Championships for the third straight year and had three players named All-ACC, with senior Lane Carico also named an AVCA All-America for the second consecutive year.
The veteran mentor began her coaching career at her alma mater, Maryland, as an assistant in 1994 before making stops at Ohio and Texas A&M prior to taking over a previous dormant program at Miami on Sept. 12, 2000. During her playing career with the Terps, Lantagne Welch was a three-time All-ACC selection as a setter and finished her career as the program’s all-time leader in assists, digs and matches played.
Click here for more information on the U.S. Women’s A2 Program.
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