Stacy Barnett enters her eighth season overall at UNH and her fifth season in which she has served as Associate Head Coach. Barnett was promoted to her current position after serving three seasons as the top assistant coach with the Wildcat volleyball program.  She returned to her alma mater after a successful playing career (1997-2000) as the starting setter on the school’s first America East title-winning team in 1998 and was also a part of the Wildcat coaching staff that won the 2002 America East Championship.  Barnett plays an integral part in the day-to-day operations of the program with a strong work ethic and a competitive edge to help UNH get to the next level.
    Barnett is primarily responsible for assisting Coach Hirschinger as the team’s recruiting coordinator, coaching the Wildcat setters, developing the ‘Cats offensive systems and working with the players on skill development and technical training.  Over the past four seasons, she coached Kate Uitti who was named a three-time America East All-Conference honoree and finished her career second on the all-time assists list at UNH behind only Barnett.  Barnett is also active nationally as she serves on the assistant coaches’ committee for the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
    Prior to UNH, Barnett served as the graduate assistant coach at the University of Delaware for two seasons under head coach Bonnie Kenny.  In her second year at Delaware, Barnett helped the team to its first appearance at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in school history. Barnett has also coached with the Seacoast Junior Olympic Volleyball Program for seven years (1999-2006) and now sits on the board of directors.
    While at UNH, Barnett was the starting setter in three of her four years in Durham and she helped guide the team to the school’s first-ever America East championship and NCAA appearance in 1998. During her playing tenure in Durham, the Wildcats appeared in the America East Championship match all four years. Barnett was named to the America East All-Conference Team in 1998, 1999 and 2000. She captained the Wildcats in 1998 and 2000, received the Coaches’ Award in 1997 and was part of the best four-year record in program history. Barnett earned Most Valuable Player at the 2000 annual team awards banquet.
    Barnett, who graduated from UNH in 2001 with a B.A. degree in Communications, was the first player in school history to post 3,000 assists and the third player in the 1,000-dig club. Barnett completed her Master’s Degree in Education from Delaware with an emphasis in Leadership in the fall of 2006.
    Her 3,977 career assists still stand as a school record and she also holds the top two single-season assists marks with 1,350 in 2000 and 1,291 in 1999.  
    Barnett, a native of Crystal Lake, Ill., played club volleyball for Sky High and was MVP of the Tampa Bay National Qualifier tournament in 1996 and 1997.

Hirschinger about Barnett:
“Stacy has made an impact since returning to UNH volleyball. As the recruiting coordinator, we have had great success in our recruiting classes. She has a good eye for not just recruiting good players but good players with heart and attitude. Responsible of the setters she really demands a lot from them, not just as setter, but being masters of ‘how to beat the game.’ There is so much more to setting that Stacy takes to another level.”