Former Huron Valley Volleyball Club coach and Eastern Michigan University volunteer assistant Ben Kaszeta took over as head volleyball coach at Lake Superior State in March, 2011.

Kaszeta replaced 16-year head coach Mark Engle, who retired in February. Kaszeta is a high-energy coach who has head coaching experience with elite players of various ages.

“I am very much a defensive-minded coach,” Kaszeta said. “I believe that defense wins matches. A good, disciplined team will prevail.”

Kaszeta, who is originally from St. Clair Shores, Mich., was a volunteer assistant at EMU last season and was the Mott Community College head coach from 2007-09. His club experience includes the USA Volleyball Lakeshore Region High Performance team (2009-10), Huron Valley (2008-11), Michigan Elite (2004-08) and Oxford Heat (1998-05).

Kaszeta was the head coach of the Huron Valley 17 National Team for four years. He also assisted EMU head coach Kim Berrington with the Lakeshore Region Youth Team, which qualified for the USA Volleyball High Performance Championship in 2010.

He has worked camps at Michigan, Mississipi State, Michigan State, Concordia and EMU. He coached volleyball, track and field, and swimming at several high schools.

Several Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools, including LSSU, have players that have been coached by Kaszeta, who is a 2010 graduate of EMU.

“There are teams within this league that are within reach, and to start with the simple parts of the game I hope to be more competitive in those matches,” Kaszeta said. “In the long run, I can see the Lake State program competing for a GLIAC title. With a few of the right parts and a small change in the culture, the sky is the limit for this program.”

Former Laker standout hitter Amy Molenaar, who played for the Lakers in 2004 and 2005, returns to the bench as an assistant coach in 2010.

Molenaar, a former student assistant coach in 2006, has a B.S. in exercise science from LSSU and earned her master's degree in exercise science from Northern Michigan in 2009. She spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at NMU.

Molenaar is currently an instructor in LSSU's exercise science program and the Exercise Physiology Lab coordinator. Her primary job duties at LSSU are teaching exercise science courses and administering lab-based research and testing and fitness services to our students and community.