Alesia Bennett

Brandeis University

Anna Ertischek ‘26 joined Lara Verstovsek ‘25 in the 1,000-kill club in 2025, also taking home All-UAA and AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors.

Verstovsek landed on the first-team All-UAA - Brandeis's second to earn that feat since 1990 - and her third AVCA All-America honorable mention. She finished her career 5th on Brandeis's career kills list.
Ertischek also earned All-UAA honors, landing on the honorable mention list.

Verstovsek became the first woman in Brandeis volleyball history to earn multiple AVCA All-America honors, landing on the honorable mention squad again.

Verstovsek 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.

In 2021, Lara Verstovsek became Brandeis's first rookie named to an All-UAA team

Bennett 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.
Outside hitter Emma Bartlett '20 became the Judges' second All-American in program history.

Bennett guided the Judges to their first postseason appearance in five years, reaching the semifinals of an expanded ECAC tournament.

Bennett is a member of the AVCA Division III Committee and All-Region Selection Committee.

Bennett became head coach for Simmons College in 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.
She served as the GNAC coaching representative with the New England Women’s Volleyball Association (NEWVA) poll committee while at Simmons.
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 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.