Lindsey Behonick - Women's Volleyball Coach - Oregon State University Athletics

Lindsey Behonick

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
volleyball@oregonstate.edu
Phone:
412-370-5780

Lindsey Behonick, the 12th head coach in program history, joined Oregon State in December 2022.

Through her second season in Corvallis, Behonick has led the Beavers to some strong moments. In 2024, a pair of student-athletes (Annika Hester and Lauren Rumel) became the first Beavs to be named to the First Team all-league under her direction. Additionally, the duo of Hester and Rumel were the first to be named all-league since the 1990 season. Two freshmen - Emma Lilo and Yasemin Narlioglu - completed their first seasons inside the top 10 for freshmen in assists and digs, respectively.

Following the season, Elly Schraeder made history as the first Beaver to be coached by Behonick to sign a professional contract when she inked a deal with AO Thiras, a Greek squad.

Just a few of the highlights of the Behonick era has included:

First home sweep of the Arizona schools since 2017 (2023)
First road sweep of the Washington schools since 2017 (2023)
First top 25 road win since 2017 (2023)
First time beating two ranked opponents in a season since 2011 (2023)
First win over a ranked Washington State since 2016 (2023)
First home win over Washington State since 2017 (2024)
First pair to be named to an all-conference team (2024)

During a six-win stretch during the middle of the 2023 season, the Beavers stunned a pair of ranked opponents - No. 19 Arizona State (her first Pac-12 win) and No. 6 Washington State in Pullman - with five-set battles and had emphatic four-set wins and even a sweep. Behonick even became the first head coach in program history to record her first three wins via sweep, including in that stretch were her first two times inside Gill Coliseum. She guided Mychael Vernon - the 17th Beaver to hit the 1,000-kill threshold - to an honorable mention All-Pac-12 nod. After a clean sweep of the Arizona opposition, Vernon and Ryan White claimed the league's Player of the Week honors for offense and defense, respectively.

In the classroom, the Beavers shined with a cumulative 3.35 GPA for the 2023-24 school year, earning them the AVCA's Team Academic Award. A year later, the 2024 team kept up the work in the classroom with a 3.46 GPA with three earning 4.0s. The duo of Hester and Rumel also became the second and third to be named to College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District under Behonick's direction.

The California native returned to the west coast after a decade as an assistant coach for Pittsburgh, helping lead the Panthers to back-to-back Final Four appearances, three Elite Eights and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament.

In Behonick’s ten seasons as assistant coach, the Panthers reached the NCAA Tournament in as many years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), marking the longest postseason streak in program history. Additionally, with Behonick on staff, Pitt earned its first four ACC Championships (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022), three consecutive NCAA Elite 8s (2020, 2021, 2022) and back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances (2021, 2022).

Prior to Behonick’s departure from Pitt, she helped recruit the highest ranked recruiting class in program history and the first Top 5 ranked class recorded at Pitt. In 2022, she helped bring in the No. 9 ranked recruiting class and 2023 the No. 5 ranked class according to prepdig.com.
Pitt defeated No. 1 seed Wisconsin in the Elite 8 at UW Field House, the first time Pitt had ever defeated a No. 1 seed and the first time any team had defeated the defending national champion in a true road match in the Elite Eight.
The Panthers ended the season ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the second season in a row, marking their highest final placement in program history.
Pitt earned the highest ranked wins in program history, defeating two teams ranked No. 2 in the AVCA Coaches' Poll, No. 2 Louisville (Oct. 23) and at No. 2 Wisconsin (Dec. 10).
2022 marked the ninth consecutive season with Pitt ranked in the NCAA RPI Top 50, finishing at No. 3.

In her final season at Pitt, the Panthers made their second consecutive Final Four and a 31-4 mark, with a 17-1 record in ACC play. The 31 wins were the most in a season in over 20 years and led to a second consecutive No. 4 ranking in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

During her decade with Pitt, they went 258-62 and won four ACC championships. In the last five years, the Panthers collected a NCAA-best 140 victories.

She helped guide four to AVCA All-American honors and was instrumental in Pitt's offense that had 1,764 kills (sixth-best in the NCAA) and ranked in the top 10 in 2022.

In 2020, she assisted Pitt en route to its first NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance following the tournament's biggest upset of No. 3 seed Minnesota in the Sweet Sixteen, coaching outside hitter Lund to her most decorated season, becoming the ACC's first two-time Volleyball Player of the Year, Pitt's first two-time AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year and two-time AVCA Second Team All-American, tying the program's highest honors ever earned at the time.

Behonick and Pitt finished the 2019 ACC schedule unblemished, going a perfect 18-0 to capture their third consecutive ACC Title. The Panthers earned the No. 6 seeding for the NCAA Tournament and finished the year at No. 5 in the NCAA RPI.

Pitt ended the 2018 season ranked in the NCAA RPI Top 10 for the first time in program history, as Behonick helped guide the Panthers to their first outright ACC Volleyball Championship in school history. The Panthers secured the No. 12 seeding for the NCAA Tournament and hosted the First and Second Rounds for the first time in program history at their home gym.

Behonick assisted Kayla Lund to the program's first AVCA All-America First Team selection and its first four-time All-ACC First Team selection in the 2021 season that saw the Panthers make their first trip to the Final Four in program history.

The 2017 season started a stretch of three-straight ACC titles, as Behonick and Pitt shared the title with Louisville for the first ACC Championship in program history, going back-to-back at the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003-04.

Behonick and the Panthers returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first year in 12 years and the first to advance to the second round in 13 years during the 2016 season, continuing the run of 20-plus win seasons.

The 2014 and 2015 seasons saw Behonick assist the Panthers to 20-plus wins in two-straight seasons for the first time in over 10 years, as she was named an AVCA 30 under 30 winner in 2015.

Before making the move to Pitt in 2013, Behonick, returned to her alma mater for two seasons, guiding Concordia to a combined 75-2 record over two seasons, including a 38-0 campaign that culminated in the 2012 NAIA National Title.

Behonick was a three-time All-Conference and two-time NAIA All-America honoree middle blocker, holding the school record for games played and block assists at Concordia University from 2004-08. She completed her undergrad in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business sports management, before earning her master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia in 2014.

A native of Dana Point, Calif., Behonick (formerly Campbell) returns to the West coast with her husband, Michael, the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at Western Oregon University, and their two sons: Miles and Aiden.