SEATTLE — Seattle U Volleyball head coach Michelle Cole announced Tuesday, the addition of Bouaketh Chanthavisouk as the team's assistant coach.
"I'm very excited to be able to bring Bouaketh (Bou) to Seattle U," said Cole. "She and I met several years at an NCAA conference and have stayed in touch since. Bou is an incredibly hard worker and genuine passion for the game and provides a wealth of experience in addition to a fresh set of eyes and opinions, which will help our team grow as the season goes on."
"I would like to thank head coach Michelle Cole for the opportunity to work here as a part of her staff," said Chanthavisouk. "I'm excited to help Redhawk Volleyball make gains on the court and assist Michelle with her vision for this program. I look forward to getting in the gym and working with our student athletes. I can't wait to meet the people that call Seattle University and the city of Seattle home."
Chanthavisouk comes to Capital Hill with nearly two decades of coaching experience, where she helped garner numerous team, athlete and individual accolades. She spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Salem College in Winston-Salem, N.C. Her first year with Salem resulted in a 14-14 overall mark and 10-6 record in conference play, which also included a season-long four-match win-streak from Sept. 17-28.
Chanthavisouk helped the team to the third-most single-season kills (1,154) and highest kills per set average (11.31) in program history. The team also recorded With the play of senior setter Hannah Delcamp, Chanthavisouk's squad had the third-most assists (1,078) in Salem history. Junior outside hitter Kathryn O'Connell, who was prominent in Salem's success in 2019, drew CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
Prior to Salem College, Chanthavisouk spent three seasons (2016-18) as an assistant at The College of Wooster. There she helped Wooster win 47 matches during her tenure as the program's defensive coordinator. In addition to the overall team success, Chanthavisouk worked with three All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selections as well as a CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-Conference First Team selection, which came in her first season.
Chanthavisouk was also an assistant coach at Gannon University for six seasons. While there she was named as the 2015 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II National Assistant Coach of the Year. During her stint in Erie, Pa., she helped guide the Lady Knights to a consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, with at least 20 wins every season she was on the bench.
On the court at Gannon, Chanthavisouk worked directly with nine Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) First Team selections, eight All-Atlantic Region selections, two PSAC Freshmen of the Year and one PSAC West Player the Year. Among the individuals that made the biggest impact at Gannon during Chanthavisouk's six-year tenure was Hannah Kren, who garnered AVCA All-American honorable mention twice and Daktronics All-American on one occasion.
Her career on the sidelines as an assistant at Saint John Fisher College, before a two-year head coaching tenure at the State University of New York at Geneseo and a spell at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Chanthavisouk also provides a bit of international experience, serving as an assistant coach for the Vietnam BIP-USA delegation in 2018, helping the team earn second place at the Binh Dien Cup. She was also the head coach for the Costa Rica unit in 2017 for the Beyond Sports Tours.
As a student-athlete, Chanthavisouk was selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) all-region third-team and the All-Western New York Athletic Conference first-team while playing for Monroe Community College.
Chanthavisouk, earned a bachelor's degree in English from St. John Fisher, also served in both the U.S. Army Reserve and the New York Army National Guard.