Becca Carstensen

RIPON, Wis. - Becca Carstensen has been named the head volleyball coach at Ripon College, replacing Erin Plumley, who resigned after one season. Carstensen becomes the fifth head coach in program history and takes over a team that finished 10-17 a year ago, including a 6-3 mark in the Midwest Conference and a trip to the MWC Tournament.

Carstensen comes to Ripon after a two-year stint as an assistant at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where she helped lead the Storm to a 40-29 record during that time, including a trip to the 2008 NCAA Division III National Tournament. While at Simpson, Carstensen also served as an exercise science instructor and assistant strength and conditioning coach.

No stranger to Wisconsin, Carstensen earned her Bachelors degree in Kinesiology from UW-Eau Claire in 2005, where she lettered four times in volleyball and once in basketball. As a member of the Blugold volleyball team, Carstensen served as the co-captain for two years, while twice being named to the WIAC All-Conference First Team as a Middle Hitter. She was also selected to the All-Midwest Region and AVCA All-American Third Team in 2004, while earning a WIAC Scholar Athlete award that same year.

Carstensen went on to earn her Master's degree in Sport Management in 2007 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. While at NIU, Carstensen served as a graduate assistant in Exercise Gerontology and as a strength and conditioning intern.

A native of Eau Claire, Wis., Carstensen attended high school at Eau Claire Memorial. She is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), while also belonging to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).