Shannon Thompson was officially named the 13th head coach of the Canisius volleyball program on July 23, 2020.
In her first season on Main Street, Thompson navigated the Golden Griffins to a 9-4 overall mark during the pandemic shortened season. The Blue and Gold finished the regular-season second in the MAAC and reached the MAAC Championship match in the postseason. Under Thompson's guidance, Ella Loussia and Hannah Nelson were selected to the 2020-21 All-MAAC Volleyball Team.
Thompson took over the Golden Griffin volleyball program after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. There, she helped build the Camels’ program into one of the better teams in the Big South Conference, highlighted by the team’s appearance in the Big South championship match last fall. In addition to her coaching responsibilities with Campbell’s middle hitters, outside hitters and right-side hitters, she served as the program’s camp director, travel coordinator and was the program’s contact for alumni and donors.
“We are excited to welcome Shannon to the Canisius athletic department and the campus community,” Director of Athletics Bill Maher said at the time of her hiring. “Shannon did a terrific job throughout our selection process and has worked her way up the coaching ladder. At each stop, she has been able to identify and develop strong recruiting classes into quality student-athletes, while helping the members of the team grow both on and off the court. I look forward to working with her and our student-athletes as we chase the goal of a MAAC Championship.”
Prior to her time at Campbell, Thompson was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. She also spent two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2015-17 at her alma mater, UMass-Boston.
A native of Moorpark, Calif., Thompson started her coaching career with the club program at VC Tirol in Innsbruck, Austria. She also played professionally for VC Tirol from 2013-15, and as a team captain, helped lead the team to a third-place finish in the Austrian Division I Bundesliga.
Thompson was a four-year letterwinner and a four-time first-team all-league selection during her collegiate playing days at UMass-Boston from 2009-12. The Beacons’ career leader in kills (1,803), digs (1,202) and solo blocks (120), she holds the honor of being the only volleyball player in Little East Conference history to be named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year three times, in addition to being tabbed as the conference’s Rookie of the Year. She closed out her college career by earning Little East Conference Tournament MVP accolades after leading the Beacons to the 2012 NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball National Championship Tournament.
Thompson earned her undergraduate degree in exercise and health science in 2013 at UMass-Boston and then completed her MBA work, with a specialization in marketing, at UMass-Boston in 2017.
