Britta Ashman Named Volleyball Head Coach
PAXTON, Mass.—Anna Maria College athletic director Laura Habacker has announced the hiring of Britta Ashman as the AMCAT volleyball coach. She takes over for Samantha Shomo, who accepted the head coach position at Western New England University after five seasons with the AMCATS.
"Britta stood out amongst a talented pool of applicants," said Habacker. "We look forward to her joining our department as a full time staff member. In addition to her talents on the court, I believe she is the right fit to also lead our student-athlete advisory committee."
Ashman comes to Anna Maria from Curry College, where she was recently named the head coach after serving as the program's assistant coach since 2012. At Curry, Ashman was responsible for all aspects of recruiting, practice planning, scheduling, team travel, and general team management.
"I would like to thank the Anna Maria administration for this opportunity and I am honored to have been appointed head coach," said Ashman. "I am very excited about the season and the potential that this team has. We have a competitive season ahead of us; however, I am confident that our team can match the competition that we will face."
Ashman inherits a volleyball program that has experienced massive growth over the past four seasons. The AMCATS set new team records in wins from 2013-15, and played their first winning season in 2015 with a 17-14 overall record. The AMCATS have also made back-to-back appearances in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament.
As a full time member of the athletic department, Ashman will also monitor the academic progress of all student-athletes and will advise the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) by organizing and executing SAAC-sponsored events.
A former Division I volleyball player at both George Washington University and Northeastern University, Ashman played in 44 matches over her career. Following her 2005 graduation from Northeastern, Ashman held coaching positions at Bunker Hill Community College, Pembroke High School before signing on a Curry.
In addition to Northeastern, Ashman holds a master's degree in education from Salem State University and is currently pursuing a master's in sports management and administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
The AMCATS kick off the 2016 campaign on Friday, September 2nd at the Oswego State Tournament. Anna Maria will face off with Sage, New Rochelle, and the hosts during the two-day event.
