Women's basketball names Amy Senefelder assistant coach
August 1, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
Alaska women's basketball head coach Cody Burgess announced that Amy Senefelder has been selected as the program's new assistant coach.
The Indiana native brings in seven years of college coaching experience having coached at Muskingum University (NCAA Division III), Ancilla College (NJCAA), Franklin Pierce (NCAA Division II) and Tri-State University (NCAA Division III).
“It's been a good couple years now as a head coach, so it's exciting to have new ideas, a new vision and experience coming in,” Burgess said. “Amy has great experience working with a championship program Franklin Pierce and has been in the business for a while. She has the maturity and professionalism I believe will improve the program.”
“I'm really excited to get to work,” Senefelder said. “I knew I wanted to be a head coach Division III or move up to the scholarship level, so I'm happy to get this experience.”
Most recently, Senefelder served as the assistant coach at Muskingum in New Concord, Ohio. In her two seasons, the Fighting Muskies went 21-30 and reached the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship in 2011. Additionally, she was the head women's golf coach and a lecturer in the Health & P.E. department at the university.
Senefelder spent two years at Ancilla College, a National Junior College Athletic Association program in Donaldson, Indiana. She was presented with additional responsibilities as she managed all team operations in absence of the head coach, which included practices, conditioning, scrimmages, off-season workouts as well as other off-court activities.
She enjoyed the most success of her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H., from 2006-08. In two seasons, the Ravens went 44-17, which included a 31-13 record in Northeast-10 Conference play. In the 2007-08 campaign, FPU won the NCAA Northeast Region title and advanced to the Elite Eight.
“One of the exciting things about having Amy is her having that kind of exposure from Franklin Pierce,” Burgess said. “Those are the kind of student-athletes we're looking for to recruit here. Having that experience and knowing what it takes to build a championship team is really going to help us find those athletes. Understanding the competition at that elite table will allow our players to have the respect and tenacity to achieve those things.”
“Having a taste of real good success, you don't want to settle for anything less,” Senefelder said. “I set my goals pretty high.”
Prior to coaching, Senefelder played four years for the women's basketball team at Tri-State (now Trine) University, which is located in Angola, Ind. Following her playing career, she was a student assistant at for her alma mater during the 2005-06 season.
Senefelder replaces former assistant Jason Nichols, who resigned after two years to pursue an assistant coaching position at the College of Southern Idaho.