PERSONAL
Hometown: Naperville, IL
Education: Bachelors of Arts in Psychology (St. Thomas, 2018); Masters of Business Administration in Sports Administration (St. Thomas, 2020)
Year as Head Coach:Â 6th
Year as STUÂ Head Coach:Â 6th
COACHING EXPERIENCE
St. Thomas University - Head Coach (2020-Present)
St. Thomas University - Assistant Coach (2018-2019)
COACHING ACCOLADES
- Sun Conference Coach of the Year (2021, 2022, 2024)
- Sun Conference Regular Season Championships (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
- Sun Conference Tournament Championships (2022, 2023, 2024)
- NAIA National Tournament Appearances (2022, 2023, 2024)
- NAIA National Tournament Final Site Appearances (2023, 2024)
- 20-plus win seasons (2021, 2023, 2024)
- 30-plus win seasons (2024)
- AVCA 30 Under 30 Class of 2025
BY THE NUMBERS
- 27Â All-Sun Conference members
- 5 AVCA All-Americans
- 1 AVCAÂ All Region Defender of the YearÂ
- 11 AVCAÂ Southeast Region MembersÂ
- 4 Sun Conference Libero of the Year
- 2 Sun Conference Freshman of the Year
- 2 Sun Conference Setter of the Year
BIOGRAPHY
Coach Battoe is in her sixth season as the Head Women's Volleyball Coach for the Bobcats after being hired prior to the 2020 season. She enters the 2025 campaign with a 110-24
In her first season at the helm of the Bobcats, Battoe guided the Bobcats to a 10-7 record and the program's first Sun Conference Tournament victory since 2017. STU placed four players on the Sun Conference First-Team (Kyleigh Beecham, Tyran Chenault, Arianna Bolinger, and Victoria Fernandez).
Year two was a great one for Battoe making a statement and reclaiming the title as Sun Conference Regular Season Champions for the first time since 2017. Battoe was also named Sun Conference Coach of the Year. St. Thomas' freshmen Libero, Bianca Grassi made history being named the SUN Defender of the Week a record seven times and earning Libero of the Year recognition. The Bobcats had four All-Conference members with three on first team (Tyran Chenault, Bianca Grassi, and Amanda Allende) with one on second-team (Kyleigh Beecham).
2021 marked Battoe's first 20-win season as a coach going 21-7 on the season and 12-2 in conference play.
The third season brought so much historic moments, as Coach Battoe led the Bobcats to their first conference tournament title since 2003. This in turn led to the team's first national tournament appearance in 20 years. St. Thomas Volleyball went 19-6 on the year and 12-2 in Sun Conference action to clinch back-to-back regular season titles. It was a lot of back-to-back as Battoe was named the Coach of the Year once again and Bianca Grassi was named the Libero of the Year for the second straight season. Tayla Barnes was named the Freshman of the Year as STU swept three of the four major awards. Battoe coached five All-Conference members with three on first team (Amanda Allende, Tayla Barnes and Bianca Grassi) and two on second team (Isadora Tavares and Alexandra MacAskill).
Battoe continued to propel the Bobcat's into the national conversation during the 2023 campaign, boasting a 27-3 overall record with an undefeated 14-0 mark in Sun Conference Play to become just the third team in STU history to win their conference regular season title in three-consecutive seasons. Behind a Sun Conference record seven all-conference honorees featuring the Libero of the Year (Bianca Grassi), Setter of the Year (Payton Bertke) and Newcomer of the Year (Alexandra Bruno), STU won its second-straight Sun Conference Tournament title and hosted an NAIA National Tournament Opening Round matchup. The Bobcats' postseason journey continued at the Final Site Pool Play, where STU won their opening contest 3-2.
Heading into the 2024 campaign with a national preseason ranking for the first time in program history, the Bobcats continued to exceed expectations behind a pair of school records with the first undefeated regular season by a NAIA-sponsored sport and the first program to win four-consecutive Sun Conference Regular Season Titles. During the program's historic run, Battoe won her 100th game as STU's Head Coach, reaching the milestone on Oct. 26 at the New College of Florida.
The Bobcats extended their win streak behind a pair of 3-1 victories in the Sun Conference Championship they hosted for their third-straight banner before securing their spot at the NAIA National Championship Final Site via a 3-0 sweep of Florida College inside the Fernandez Family Center. STU won both their matches in Pool Play to advance to the knockout round for the first time in program history, ending the season against eventual champion Indiana Wesleyan. Grassi concluded her collegiate run with a fourth Sun Conference Libero of the Year along with 2,233 career digs, the most in league history. Bertke secured her second Sun Conference Setter of the Year distinction with seven Bobcats earning All-Conference honors.
The journey of Coach Battoe is an admirable one, turning around a program she built as a player and now taking it to further heights as a coach. In 2023, St. Thomas Volleyball was put on the national radar after a historic season. The Bobcats found their way back into the rankings for the first time since 2016, ending the season as high as no. 22. In just her fourth year, Battoe led the Bobcats to the second best win percentage (.900), third most wins (27), second conference undefeated season (first in 1996, 14-0), longest win streak in program history (22), third most sweeps (17), hosted the first ever NAIA National Tournament Opening Round game in the FFC Gym, and doubled the wins at the national tournament to now four, ending aa 23 year drought without a win. St. Thomas became the first team in Sun Conference history to have the entire starting rotation make all-conference honors with six on first team and one on second. STU took home four of the five major awards with Libero, Setter, Freshman, and Assistant Coach of the Year. It was the first setter award won in program history. The Bobcats collected their first AVCA All-American Awards in the Battoe era with with Allende, Grassi, and Bertke being named honorable mentions.Â
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
- Four-year starter at St. Thomas
- Three-time NAIA All-American (Honorable Mention 2015-16; Third-Team 2017)
- Two-time Sun Conference Player of the Year (2015, 2017)
- First-team All-Sun Conference (2015-17)
- Second-team All-Sun Conference (2014)
- STU all-time leader in kills (1,371)
- 2017 Sun Conference Regular-Season Champion
YEAR-BY-YEAR (Indoor Volleyball)
Â
| Year |
Overall |
Win Pct. |
Conference |
Win Pct. |
Post-Season |
| 2020 |
10 - 7 |
.588 |
7-6 SUN |
.538 |
 Sun Conference tournament appearance |
| 2021 |
21 - 7 |
.750 |
12-2 SUN |
.857 |
 Sun Conference Regular Season Champions, semifinal appearance |
| 2022 |
19 - 6 |
.760 |
12-2 SUN |
.857 |
 Sun Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, NAIA  Opening Round Appearance |
| 2023 |
27 - 3 |
.900 |
14-0 SUN |
1.000 |
 Sun Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, NAIA  Opening Round Win, Final Site Pool Play |
| 2024 |
33-1 |
.971 |
14-0 SUN |
1.000 |
Sun Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, NAIA Opening Round Win, Final Site Quarterfinalist |
| Overall |
110 - 24 |
.821 |
59 - 10 |
.855 |
|
