Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks

Michele Benoit

Michele Benoit enters her 10th season as the John Carroll head volleyball coach in the 2025-26 academic year. 

Benoit, now with over 650 collegiate victories to her credit, was named the head coach on Feb. 16, 2016. She has been a winning coach in all four of her head coaching stints at the collegiate level. She ranks 25th in wins among active NCAA coaches and 12th among NCAA Division III coaches. 

In 2024, Benoit guided JCU to the OAC Semifinal for the second time in her time as head coach, hitting 20 wins for the second time, as well. Under her watch, Abby Bednar became JCU's third All-American in program history. 

Benoit enjoyed a breakout campaign at JCU in 2022. She guided the Blue Streaks to the second seed in the OAC Tournament, with a historic win over conference powerhouse Ohio Northern (snapping a 26-match losing streak to the Polar Bears). The Blue Streaks defeated Muskingum at home in the OAC Semifinal before falling to Otterbein in the program's first appearance in the OAC Tournament Championship since 2014.

Under her watch, Cassi Calamunci won OAC Player of the Year honors and became just the program's second All-American. Calamunci also was distinguished as JCU's Female Clyde Lamb Award winner for the OAC. 
 
In 1995, Benoit was hired as the head volleyball coach, assistant athletic director, and an instructor by Division III College of Mount St. Joseph, where she would remain for 14 seasons and accrue an outstanding 400-137 (.745) record. 
 
Over the course of those 14 seasons, her teams won 10 regular season titles, captured 10 tournament championships, earned Top Ten AVCA National Rankings from 1999 to 2004 and Top 25 in 2005 and 2008, and maintained a team grade point average above a 3.0 all 14 seasons. 
 
Benoit won Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five times and NCAA Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year twice during her time at Mount St. Joseph.
 
In 2009, she took clinical instructing and volleyball head coaching positions at Division II University of Wisconsin-Parkside, turning a floundering program into a winning one over the course of just two seasons. 
 
She raised the team from a 10-22 record in 2008 to their first 20+ win season since 1997, and the team earned a regional ranking for the first time in over 10 years, reaching as high as #9 in the region.  Over these two seasons her team went 40-23 (.635) and her team again maintained a team GPA above 3.0.
 
Her last stop before arriving at JCU was at Division III Haverford College, being hired as the head volleyball coach and coordinator of club sports. 
 
Benoit spent five seasons at the helm of the volleyball program and earned a 98-51 (.658) record and a 36-14 (.720) regular season conference record. In addition, the Fords made the league playoffs four times, earned the AVCA Academic Award for three years, and had 12 players selected to the CC All Conference team over her five seasons.
 
Benoit graduated from Ashland University in 1987, was the head coach at Magnificat from 1987 until 1992, and then returned to school in 1994 at the University of Akron to obtain her MS in Education. 
 
Year Overall Conference OAC Tournament
2024 20-10 6-3 1-1
2023 17-11 5-4 0-1
2022 21-8 6-3 1-1
2021 14-16 4-5 0-1
2020-2021* 8-11 8-10 0-1
2019 19-11 3-6 0-1
2018 15-14 2-7 0-1
2017 6-26 2-7 0-1
2016 16-12 6-3 0-1
John Carroll Totals 136-119 42-46 2-9
2015 20-10
2014 22-10
2013 21-7
2012 21-10
2011 14-14
Haverford Totals 98-51
2010 19-11
2009 21-12
Wisconsin Parkside Totals 40-23
2008 29-11
2007 20-17
2006 27-12
2005 27-10
2004 35-4
2003 32-6
2002 32-7
2001 31-7
2000 32-5
1999 35-5
1998 32-5
1997 26-11
1996 19-21
1995 23-16
Mt. St. Joseph Totals 400-137
Career Totals 674-330

*OAC-only schedule due to COVID-19 

Sponsors