The AVCA is pleased to announce its 2025 Regional Coaches of the Year for Two-Year College women’s volleyball, as chosen by the Two-Year College Volleyball All-America Selection Committee. The eight recipients, chosen from the three NJCAA divisions, the 3C2A, and the NWAC, come from each of the four regions: Midwest, Northeast/Southeast, Southwest, and West.
Midwest Region Coaches of the Year
Mary Frahm, Heartland Community College
2025 Record: 40-4
Frahm and the Hawks improved on a third place at the 2024 NJCAA Division II National Championship, by winning the school’s first-ever volleyball championship this season. Heartland finished the year 40-4, and they only dropped one set at the 2025 national tournament, where they swept two-time defending champ Cowley in the semifinals.
Mary Bruno-Ballou, Kansas City Kansas Community College
2025 Record: 27-6
Bruno-Ballou made it back-to-back seasons of recording the school’s best national finish. After her 2024 team took fourth at the NJCAA Division II Championship, they made it to the final of this year’s championship, placing second. In the third match of this, her 15th, season at KCKCC, she picked up her 300th victory of her career.
Northeast/Southeast Region Coaches of the Year
Scott Allen, Gulf Coast State College
2025 Record: 32-5
Allen has pushed Gulf Coast State to new heights in his eight seasons at the school, which has included making it to the semifinals of the NJCAA Division II Championship each of the past years. This year’s Lady Commodore squad, which set a program record for winning percentage (.864), earned the program’s best national finish: third.
Origenes “Kiko” Benoit, Miami Dade College
2025 Record: 29-2
Benoit solidified his already sterling resume by leading Miami Dade to the NJCAA Division I national title, the school’s third in his 18-season tenure. This year’s Shark squad was dominant from start to finish, only dropping 15 sets across its 31 matches and compiling win streaks of 10 matches (to open the season) and 14 matches (to close it out).
Southwest Region Coaches of the Year
Chuck Cutenese, Orange Coast College
2025 Record: 25-1
Cutenese closed out his remarkable 33-year career at Orange Coast College with one of the strongest seasons in program history. His 2025 squad finished 25-1 record and was unbeaten until a four-set lost in the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The year was defined by a tight-knit group playing to cement a legacy for its remarkable coach.
Kailee May, Weatherford College
2025 Record: 34-4
May delivered Weatherford its best women’s volleyball season ever, guiding the 2025 Coyotes to a 34-4 record, a Region V championship, and their fourth-straight conference title. Her team capped the year by placing fourth at the 2025 NJCAA Division I National Championship, which was the highest finish in program history.
West Region Coaches of the Year
Mackenzie Nelson, Northeastern Junior College
2025 Record: 35-4
Nelson guided Northeastern to its best season in program history in 2025. Her team finished 35-4—including a 30-match win steak from late August through the NJCAA Division I Championship semifinals—and earned a program-best, third-place finish in the NJCAAs. This was the school’s third-consecutive season with at least 33 wins.
Shay Goulding Meurer, Salt Lake Community College
2025 Record: 27-6
The veteran coach led the Bruins to a standout 2025 season, as they finished 27-6. Along the way they captured the SWAC regular-season championship, earned the Region 18 title, and won a Rocky Mountain District championship. At the NJCAA Division I National Championship, Goulding Meurer’s squad came in seventh.