Johnna Bazzani, an honorable mention All-American and two-time Mountain West Conference Setter of the Year, was chosen as Eastern Kentucky University’s head coach in December 2018.
As Bazzani worked to build the foundation for a championship caliber program, EKU won 11 matches combined her first two seasons as head coach. In the past three seasons, the Colonels have won 57 matches combined.
Her building effort culminated in 2023 with one of the best seasons in program history. Bazzani was chosen as the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year after leading the program to: 21 wins (tied for the most since the 2005 season), a 13-match winning streak (tied for the longest in program history), the first national postseason tournament appearance since 2004 (the 2023 NIVC), the first top three conference finish since 2014 and a program record seven straight shutout victories.
Then, in 2024 Bazzani led the team to another 21-win season and a trip to the ASUN Tournament semifinals. It marked the first time EKU has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns since 2004 and 2005. Since the start of the 2023 season the Colonels are 42-19.
Under Bazzani’s tutelage, Josie Schmitendorf was chosen as the 2024 ASUN Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a total of six Colonels earned All-ASUN honors. In addition, Sarah Mitchell became the first player since 2013 to record more than 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. Emilee Hill became the first EKU player since 2018 to record a triple-double, and finished with five of them in 2024. Carson Ledford’s .379 attack percentage is the second-best single season hitting percentage in program history.
The Colonels were just as successful in the classroom. Schmitendorf and Ledford were selected to the Academic All-ASUN Team. Four players earned Academic All-District recognition and the team posted a 3.679 grade-point-average during the fall of 2024, the highest fall GPA on record for the program.
Before the 2024 season, Bazzani was recognized on the national level for the turnaround the program has experienced during her tenure. She was selected to Volleyball Magazine’s College Coaching Hotshots List. Bazzani was the only ASUN head coach to be recognized.
In addition to recruiting well at the high school level (Hill, Schmitendorf, Mitchell & Ledford), Bazzani has shown the ability to adapt to the changing landscape of college athletics and utilize the transfer portal to improve the program. Paige Wagers and Kambree Lucas transferred to EKU prior to the 2023 season and were key parts to the success of the team over the past two seasons. Wagers led the conference and ranked among the top-50 players in the nation in blocks in 2024. In 2025 Emersyn Robbins, who posted the second-most kills in Illinois high school history, will join the program from Utah State and Amanda Mack, a 2-time Under Armour Next MVP, has transferred from Cincinnati.
“I am thankful for this opportunity to lead the Eastern Kentucky University volleyball program,” said Bazzani. “I am honored and excited to be the program’s third head coach, and plan to build on the legacy that coach Geri Polvino and coach Lori Duncan establish here over 53 years.”
In 2023, four Colonels earned All-ASUN honors and Schmitendorf was chosen to the Academic All-ASUN Team. The offense fired on all cylinders as EKU led the conference in points, hitting percentage, assists and kills. The Colonels were 11th in the nation in assists per set, 12th in kills per set and 29th in aces per set.
EKU’s program record tying 13-match winning streak began on Sept. 1 with a 3-1 win over Florida Atlantic. The Colonels then set a new program mark by winning their next seven matches by a 3-0 score. The winning streak included four straight league matches to begin the ASUN schedule.
In 2022, her fourth season as head coach, Bazzani led the Colonels to the most wins (15) since 2017. The Colonels started the 2022 campaign 5-1, its best start since 2014. During the fall 2021 season, Bazzani’s team improved by eight wins from the season before, and in its first season as a member of the ASUN Conference, the Colonels qualified for the league tournament.
In the spring of 2021, Bazzani recruited and coached a first team all-conference freshman for the second straight season – Molly Michalak led the team with 184 kills.
In 2019, her first season as head coach, Bazzani improved the win total by four wins from the season before. She picked up her first win as a head coach against Gardner-Webb in a four set victory on Aug. 30. Bazzani recruited Abby Noll who had one of the best freshman campaigns in the program’s history, and was named first team all-conference in 2019.
In addition to its success on the court, the team has been recognized nationally for its work in the classroom under Bazzani. In the summer of 2021, EKU received an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award recognizing the 3.54 cumulative grade-point-average the Colonels posted as a team during the 2020-21 academic year. In the summer of 2022, EKU received another AVCA Team Academic Award and also earned AVCA Honor Roll distinction as a result of having a team GPA in the top 20 percent, one of only 43 NCAA Division I programs to be chosen. During the 2022-23 academic year, the Colonels compiled a 3.59 GPA and earned another AVCA Team Academic Award. For the fourth straight year, EKU earned the AVCA Team Academic Award in 2024 after compiling a 3.58 GPA.
Bazzani first joined the program as a graduate assistant in 2014. She served as a full time assistant from 2015-2018.
In her first season with the Colonels in 2014, the Redlands, California native helped the team to its first 20-win campaign since 2005 and a third place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference. Bazzani recruited and tutored setter Rachel Woody, the 2016 OVC Freshman of the Year who finished tied for seventh in the nation in triple-doubles.
At San Diego State University, Bazzani was a two-time All-Mountain West Conference selection and was chosen as the league’s setter of the year twice. Following her junior season, Bazzani earned honorable mention All-America honors and was an All-West Region selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
She led the Mountain West Conference in assists as a sophomore and finished third as a junior. Bazzani helped San Diego State capture the 2012 conference championship and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. She was chosen as the team MVP as a sophomore and a senior.
After her senior season at San Diego State, Bazzani was selected to participate in the European Global Challenge with the Mountain West All-Star Team. The squad captured the bronze medal at the event.
In November of 2023, Bazzani was one of only two SDSU players selected to the Mountain West 25th Season Volleyball Team.
Bazzani received a bachelor’s of arts in communication from SDSU in 2014 and master’s of science in sport administration from Eastern Kentucky University in 2016. Her and her husband Anthony have two sons – Brayden and Jaxson.
