Matt Lein guided the Golden Bears in his first season in 2023 and is set to begin his second season leading the WNE women's volleyball team in 2024.
2023 brought 12 wins to Western New England women's volleyball, which included five wins out of eight in Commonwealth Coast Conference play. The Golden Bears secured the third seed in the CCC Tournament and hosted a home match with Roger Williams University, defeating the Hawks 3-0. WNE women's volleyball would ultimately fall 3-1 in the CCC semifinals, though they saw two of their own pick up honors from the CCC, as Alissa Hawes and Yemayma Molina were both selected for honors under the watch of Lein.
Lein was hired as the eighth head coach in Western New England women's volleyball history in August, 2023.
Lein joins WNE after spending the last two seasons at nearby American International College (AIC) (NCAA DII) as the lead assistant coach to the women’s volleyball program. There, Lein led the Yellow Jackets to two NE-10 tournament championships while also capturing two NE-10 regular season titles. Under the direction of Lein, the Yellow Jackets produced six NE-10 All-Conference Team selections and three NE-10 All-Rookie Team selections over a two-year period. Overall, AIC held a 59-10 record with Lein as the top assistant.
No stranger to leading a program, Lein served as the Head Coach of SUNY Plattsburgh from 2018-2021 where he helped build the Cardinals women’s volleyball program. Lein guided Michelle Simmons to a SUNYAC All-Third Team selection in 2019. Lein also saw the program’s first ever SUNYAC Defensive Athlete of the Week selection under his direction in 2018.
Outside of NCAA volleyball, Lein has coached at the high school level, most recently coaching as an assistant at Westfield High School (Mass.) where he helped lead the boy’s volleyball program to two Western Massachusetts championships and 2022 Massachusetts State Champions.
Lein’s club experiences include Pioneer Valley Juniors Volleyball Club, Northern Impact Volleyball Club, Siena University Women’s Club Volleyball, and New York Attack Club Volleyball.
Lein began his career in coaching while studying at Nova Southeastern University where he was a student assistant for four seasons before taking over as an assistant for the University in 2013.
Lein earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Nova Southeastern in 2013 and his Master of Science in mental health counseling from Nova Southeastern in 2017.
Season
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Pct.
|
Conf. W-L/Place
|
Notes
|
2023
|
12
|
12
|
.500
|
5-3/3rd
|
CCC Semifinals, 2 All-CCC Selections
|
Totals
|
12
|
12
|
.500
|
5-3 (.625)
|
2 All-CCC Selections
|
