Women's Volleyball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- dgonza12@kent.edu
- Phone:
- 330-672-8462
Two-time National Champion Dominique Gonzalez was hired as an assistant coach on volleyball head coach Don Gromala's staff in March 2016. The libero on Penn Stateโs back-to-back national championship teams in 2013 and 2014, Gonzalez works primarily with the Golden Flashesโ back-row defenders and passers.
Kent Stateโs floor defense and serve receive continued to evolve under Gonzalezโs direction in 2016. The Golden Flashes posted 16.67 digs per set and moved up four spots to rank 35th nationally, while the teamโs 2,017 digs were the third-most in program history. In addition to holding two opponents to a .000 hitting percentage, Kent State recorded a MAC season-high 114 digs in a five-set victory that snapped Miamiโs school-record 20-match winning streak.
The Flashes were also improved in serve receive and allowed less than one ace per set for the first time since the 2010 season.
Gonzalez helped mentored a pair of All-MAC First Team honorees in libero Challen Geraghty and outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger. Geraghty ranked 4th in the country in digs per set (5.53) and recorded the 2nd-most digs in a season in Kent State history while being named MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week four times. Bittinger averaged 3.19 digs per set to lead all non-defensive specialists in the conference.
While at Penn State, Gonzalez was a three-year team captain and helped the Nittany Lions compile a four-year record of 128-16 (.889) record that included a third trip to the national semifinals in 2012, four NCAA Tournaments appearances and two Big Ten championships. She finished her career fourth on the schoolโs career digs list with 1,474. Gonzalez concluded her career with a service ace to sweep BYU and capture the Nittany Lionsโ NCAA record seventh womenโs volleyball national title in 2014.
Prior to Kent State, her coaching résumé included stints as a volunteer with both the Penn State and University of Texas at San Antonio womenโs volleyball programs. She has also served as an assistant coach for the Alamo Club Volleyball 16 Premiere team.
A native of San Antonio, Gonzalez earned a degree in kinesiology from Penn State in 2015.
