Volleyball: Two Assistant Coaches Hired
August 14, 2008 04:12 PM | General
By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
August 14, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University volleyball Head Coach Veronica Hammersmith announced today the hiring of Bakeer Ganes and Ashley Pappas as new assistant coaches.
“We have rearranged our staff and are happy to have Bakeer stay on and move to assistant coach,” said Hammersmith. “He is a valuable asset to our team, and he will do an excellent job this season.”
Ganes enters his third season with the Mountaineers, first as assistant coach, after serving as a graduate assistant for the past two seasons.
Before coming to WVU, Ganes served as an assistant coach at Cedar Valley College in Grand Prairie, Texas, for one season in which the Suns reached their co-conference championship. His duties included assisting the head coach with all aspects of the program including recruiting, practice and competition preparation, summer camps, travel arrangements as well as alumni outreach and fundraising.
He completed his bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in economics and German from Queens College in 2005. There he was a four-year letterwinner for the Knights volleyball team as it captured two conference championships.
Ganes was born in Sri Lanka, but moved to Germany when he was five and has been playing volleyball since he was nine. In Germany, he competed on a very successful club team from 1990 to 2000. With the VFL Sindelfingen club team, he won the regional championship and the state championship many times. Ganes and his team also made numerous appearances at the national championship.
Ganes is currently pursuing a master’s degree in athletic coaching education. He resides in Morgantown.
Ashley Pappas joins the Mountaineers for her first season as an assistant coach. The Naperville, Ill., native will oversee the academic progress of the team, team video, home match operations and assisting in practice activities.
“I am also happy to have Ashley added to the staff,” said Hammersmith. “She wants to go into coaching and this is a good chance for her to use her knowledge of the techniques and skills and put them to good use. We are happy to have a young energetic person on the staff.”
Pappas graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise psychology in 2008. She was also a member of the WVU volleyball team from 2004-07. She was team captain in her senior season.
With the Mountaineers, Pappas gathered 265 kills and 501 digs, and played in 314 total games. She also assisted with the WVU Volleyball Camp, in which she helped in the coordination of drills and taught the basic fundamentals of the sport. Pappas was awarded the Coaches Award for her efforts in 2007.
Before coming to WVU, Pappas was an all-conference and honorable mention all-state player at Naperville North High from 2001-04. She was also a member of the Sports Performance Club team from 1995-04.
Outside of volleyball, Pappas has been a volunteer for the Choosy Kids Club, Stepping Stones and participated in the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon.
She resides in Morgantown.
