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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Volleyball Adds Jeff Belmonte To Staff
March 05, 2002 | Volleyball
March 5, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University has hired Jeff Belmonte as its new assistant volleyball coach, BGSU Director of Athletics Paul Krebs has announced. Belmonte will begin his new duties immediately.
"Winning championships, people of character, tradition -- all are present at Bowling Green," said Belmonte. "I am very excited to be a part of the BG history, and I'm especially looking forward to the opportunity to work with one of the best coaches in the country. Coach Van De Walle has set the standard in the MAC and throughout the entire volleyball community."
Belmonte brings a wealth of volleyball experience from many levels to the Falcon program, having coached at the NCAA Division I and III and the NAIA levels and boasting experience in numerous other facets of the game. He comes to BGSU after serving as an assistant coach at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., during the fall of 2001, and helping that team to a conference title.
He also spent over three years as the director of development/education with the Ohio Valley Region High Performance program, partnering with USA Volleyball. In that capacity, he developed an organizational plan for the program to identify, educate and train elite athletes and coaches.
Belmonte also has NCAA Division-I coaching experience, serving as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh for three seasons (1995-97). At Pitt, he served as recruiting coordinator, helping the Panthers ink two Fab 50 All-Americans.
He was an assistant coach at Aquinas College, his alma mater, from 1990-95. The program had one All-American and/or one Academic All-American during each of his five seasons.
Belmonte also has club-coaching experience with both the Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Association and the Michigan Mizuno Juniors. He managed 11 teams as co-director of the former program, coaching that program's 17-and-Under team to a 17-1 record and a berth in the 24-team Open Division of the Junior National Championships. Belmonte guided the latter team to a top-16 finish at the 1994 AAU National Championships and a third-place finish the following year. He had three AAU All-Americans in a two-year span with that program, which grew from eight participants to 217 participants during his tenure.
Belmonte earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Aquinas, graduating with a dual major of business administration (1989) and economics (1991).
"I've known Jeff for a long time, and had been talking with him for three years about being the assistant coach here," said BGSU head coach Denise Van De Walle. "But, the timing was always off. Having him on my staff is an answer to my prayers. He has exactly what I was looking for. Jeff has proven recruiting experience, great knowledge of the game and excellent people skills, and he is a person of integrity. He is worth the wait!"
The Falcons have won 21 matches in each of the last three seasons, finishing the 2001 campaign with an overall record of 21-8 and a Mid-American Conference ledger of 12-6, good for an East Division title.
