Montreat College

After serving as the Interim Head Volleyball Coach for the spring semester of 2021, Haley Paonessa was officially named the Head Volleyball Coach for the Montreat women's volleyball program in April of 2021.

Paonessa joined the Cavs' coaching staff in the fall as the assistant coach following a short stint as the head coach at Holy Family College in Manitowoc, Wisc. During the 2020 campaign, the Cavaliers managed a trio of victories. The Elyria, Ohio native then took over the program after her predecessor left at the conclusion of the fall season. Prior to accepting the full-time head coaching position, Paonessa led Montreat through three games this spring.

Paonessa was able to help the Cavaliers to average the sixth-most blocks per set in the conference (1.7) and tally the seventh-most total blocks (132.5). Under Paonessa's assistance, Katie James averaged the seventh-most assists per set in the AAC (6.7) and totaled the sixth-most assists (515) in the league during the year.