Athletic Director Dick Jaeger last Wednesday named Ann Marie Larese the first women's varsity volleyball coach.
The volleyball team will receive full varsity status and full College funding for the first time next season, to put the College in compliance with Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, according to Associate Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jo Ann Harper.
The College made the decision in February after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
The women's volleyball team, previously an unfunded varsity team coached by volunteers, filed a complaint last fall.
Larese said being the team's first coach will take a lot of work.
"To build something from the ground up, that's always a challenge," she said.
First year medical student Kim Goodwin, who volunteered as team coach last year, said the job requires someone who can work full time.
Larese was selected by a committee of students that included Goodwin.
"She was just head and shoulders above the rest," Goodwin said.
Larese holds high expectations for the team. "We have a good base of individuals that care about the program," she said. "The only place we can go right now is up, and I think we are going to surprise a few people in the Ivy League."
"She's full of energy and she is going to expect a lot out of them, which is what they need," Goodwin said. "The women ... really deserve someone who can do the same."
Larese predicted her biggest challenge will be recruiting players to come to Dartmouth.
Larese comes to Dartmouth from Bentley College and the Dana Hall School, a high school in Wellesley, Mass.
