Abby Bennett enters her sixth season as an assistant coach with Gonzaga University in 2010. Prior to her time with the Bulldogs she was an assistant coach for one season at Central Washington University.
Bennett, a four-year starter for the Bulldogs from 2000-03, ranks in the top 10 in the Zags career record book for block assists (4th, 341), total blocks (4th, 428), block solos (5th, 87), total kills (8th, 1,140) and attack attempts (10th, 2,917). She also is ranked tied for fifth in total blocks in a single season (143; 2003) and sixth in block assists in a single season (114; 2003). She held the single-match record for total blocks in a match with 15 (2002) until current senior Caitlin Cozad tied the mark with 15 against Utah State University in 2009. Bennett is also second in block assists in a single match with 13, recorded against the University of Portland in 2002.
While an assistant with Central Washington, Bennett helped guide the Wildcats to the 2005 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship and to the second round of the NCAA Division II regionals. Central Washington closed out the season with a 23-5 overall record, including a 16-2 finish in conference.
A 2003 graduate of Gonzaga with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology, Bennett has also been a coach for the Gonzaga volleyball summer camp for the past eight years and was a coach for the Spokane Storm.
The former Abby Cullen is married to Steve Bennett, an assistant baseball coach at Gonzaga. They are the proud parents of Cullen Bennett (2009).
"As I spoke with people during the hiring process it became obvious to me that I kept describing Coach Bennett," explained head coach Dave Gantt. "She is a Gonzaga alum and has very strong ties to the University. She has a very good sense of where the program has been and has quickly shifted her paradigm relative to where we think the program should be. As a former GU athlete, Abby has a very solid awareness of what should be happening in the classroom and on the court, and in my short time in the program I have developed a greater sense of trust in her abilities. She is a Bulldog through and through and has provided wonderful stability and continuity during this transition."
