AMCC 25TH ANNIVERSARY THEN & NOW SERIES: NICOLE BAJUSZIK, LA ROCHE UNIVERSITY

Nicole Bajuszik is in her ninth season as head coach of the La Roche University women’s volleyball team. Prior to being named head coach she was an assistant coach for five seasons. 

Bajuszik started her academic and athletics career at Butler County Community College where she played for two years and was ranked fifth upon junior colleges. She then moved on to La Roche University where she also continued her athletics career as well as her academic one. She played in the AMCC and had a successful run as the AMCC’s third ranked setter and team captain. She was also a well recognized member of the AMCC All-Conference Team. Coach Bajuszik graduated from La Roche University in 2006.

While Bajuszik has been a coach at La Roche she has guided the Redhawks to six consecutive AMCC Tournament appearances, including the program’s first AMCC championship match appearance in 2017. In 2014, she led the Lady Redhawks to their first playoff berth in fifteen years and won the program's first-ever AMCC Tournament game. The team matched their performance in 2015-2016 when they defeated Penn State Behrend and Pitt-Greensburg in the AMCC Tournament Quarterfinal. La Roche took the next step in 2017, advancing through to the final match of the AMCC Tournament and bringing home the first-ever AMCC Runners-Up trophy. 

Coach Bajuszik has been a pinnacle part of coaching 19 all-conference performers. Six of those players were named all-conference, first team Honors. She also has coached three Redhawks to join the 1,000 point club in digs, assists, and kills. At the end of the 2014 season, Bajuszik was named the AMCC Coach of the Year. 

The Then and Now Series is part of the AMCC's 25th anniversary where the conference will be recognizing current AMCC coaches and/or athletic administrators who are former AMCC student-athletes. The Then and Series will run every Tuesday throughout the academic year.