Alesia Bennett
Alesia Bennett
Title: Head Coach
Phone: 781-736-3608
Email: vaccari@brandeis.edu
Year: 10th at Brandeis/13th overall
Previous College: Springfield '06
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Alesia Bennett (Vaccari) was named the fourth head women’s volleyball coach in program history in June of 2014. In 2017, she guided the Judges to their first postseason appearance in five years, reaching the semifinals of an expanded ECAC tournament. In 2018, she and her assistants were named the University Athletic Association coaching staff of the year after an unprecedented run in the conference tournament, entering as the eighth seed but winning a pair of matches to finish in fifth place. The fifth-place match win over NYU was especially dramatic, as the Judges came from two sets down to defeat their rivals. In addition, outside hitter Emma Bartlett '20 became the Judges' second All-American in program history.  

In 2021, Lara Verstovsek '25 became Brandeis's first rookie named to an All-UAA team, while in 2022, she and Sydney Bent M'23 were both first-team All-Region and honorable mention All-Americans, the third and fourth All-Americans in program history. Bent was also Brandeis's first first-team All-UAA selection since 1990.

Bennett came to Brandeis from Simmons College, where she had been head coach since 2011. She posted a 50-49 career record with the Sharks, reaching the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals in each of her three seasons. Bennett was named the GNAC Coach of the Year in her first season at Simmons, when she led the program to a 20-10 record. In 2012, she was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under Thirty Award. In 2014, she was inducted into the Connecticut Scholastic Women's Volleyball Hall of Fame, and in 2015 attended the NCAA Women's Coaches Academy. 

Bennett is a member of the AVCA Division III Committee and All-Region Selection Committee. She also served as the GNAC coaching representative with the New England Women’s Volleyball Association (NEWVA) poll committee while at Simmons. 

Prior to her time at Simmons, Bennett was a coach at Clarkson University from 2009 to 2011. She was part of the Golden Knights’ 2010 Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year, helping the program to its first-ever NCAA tournament berth.

Bennett is a 2006 graduate of Springfield College, where she twice earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors after becoming the Pride’s all-time leader in assists. She was the 2004 New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Bennett was inducted into the Springfield Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Bennett and her husband, Christopher, and daughters Evie and Nora, live in the North End of Boston.