Lyndsey Benson was hired as Northern Colorado’s head women’s volleyball coach on August 8, 2005 -- just three days prior to the start of camp. She had served the previous two seasons as an assistant coach with the Bears, so her knowledge of the program helped make her transition a smooth one.

In just a few years since, Benson has taken the Bears to unprecedented heights. She’s overseen drastic growth in the program, a transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I and the beginning of Big Sky Conference play.

Benson and her coaching staff also took the Bears on an 11-day, four-match exhibition tour through Eastern China in May 2008 -- the first such overseas trip for any of Northern Colorado’s 19 varsity programs.

“There is no place I would rather be right now than coaching at Northern Colorado,” Benson says. “It is an exciting time. We are through with the transition process and this year will be competing for the third year in the Big Sky Conference and for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.”

Benson led Northern Colorado to 14 victories in her first season at the helm and the Bears’ first season playing at the NCAA Division I level. That season, in 2005, also included a 9-4 record against Division I Independent teams and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Indepdendent Championships, which was hosted by Benson’ Northern Colorado program.

Also in 2005, with a 3-1 victory Nov. 10 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opening round of the Division I Independent Championships, Benson’s Northern Colorado squad broke the school record for consecutive home matches won. The streak reached 35 consecutive wins before the Bears suffered a 3-1 loss to IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) on Nov. 11. It was the first time Northern Colorado had lost at home since the end of the 2001 season.

The benchmarks continued in 2006, when Benson led the Bears to a 13-16 record (7-9 in the Big Sky) and to their first Big Sky tournament appearance and a tournament-quarterfinal victory against Montana in Northern Colorado’s first year of being eligible for NCAA Division I postseason play.

The Bears then fell back a bit in 2007, posting a 10-20 overall record, but their 8-8 Big Sky record was an improvement over the year before and set the stage for a strong 2008.

Benson first joined the Northern Colorado program as a graduate assistant in 2003. She spent two years in that position before being promoted in December 2004 to full-time assistant -- a position she held for just eight months before being hired as head coach.

In her two seasons as an assistant, the Bears compiled a 47-11 record, including a 32-2 mark in her inaugural season. They also set the program record for consecutive matches won when they finished the 2003 season with 26 straight wins.

Benson, who came to Northern Colorado after spending the 2002 season as an assistant coach at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., is no stranger to the Greeley area. She was a prep star at nearby Eaton High, where she earned all-state honors three times and set the Colorado state record for kills in a career (981) while leading the Reds in 1997 to a state championship in her senior year.

Benson played collegiate volleyball at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., where she was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection and earned a degree in mass communication in 2002.

Benson then continued her education at Northern Colorado, where she completed her master’s degree in athletic administration in December 2004.