St. Vincent College's athletic department has announced the hiring of Ashley Campbell as a full-time women's assistant basketball coach.
A native of Donora and graduate of Ringgold High School, Campbell served as a part-time assistant coach last season. She will serve with Jimmy Petruska, who was named the program's second head coach in school history this past April.
Petruska served as the Bearcats' interim coach following the death of Kristen Zawacki Christmas Day. She was the team's coach for 27 years, as well as having served as an associate athletic director.
Campbell was a four-year member of the Bearcats basketball team, starting 52 games in her career as a point guard, including all 24 her senior season. In 2008-09, she averaged 8.4 points per game and had a career best 97 steals and 123 assists.
At Ringgold, Campbell was a standout sprinter. She earned Valley Independent Athlete of the Week honors after sweeping four events and receiving MVP honors at the 2004 Mid Mon Track Classic.
Campbell placed 14th in 100-meter sprint at the 2005 PIAA state meet.
Petruska began his college coaching career in St. Vincent in 2006, serving as a graduate assistant. In July 2007, he was promoted to become the first ever full-time assistant coach in the team's history.
He guided the Bearcats to 17 wins on 21 games as the interim coach. St. Vincent finished with a 24-5 overall record and the Bearcats finished as runner-up in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. St. Vincent lost to Greensboro (N.C.) College in the first round of the NCAA Division III national tournament.
Campbell's efforts with all phases of the program also helped last year's team earn a spot on the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association Academic Top 25.
The WBCA Academic Top 25 annually recognizes NCAA Division I, II, and II, NAIA; and junior college teams across the nation that carry the highest combined grade-point averages inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The Bearcats, with a cumulative team GPA of 3.433, placed 24th in the NCAA Division-III classification, which includes more than 300 colleges from across the country.
Tatsch to A-B
Monessen High School multisport star Jesse Tatsch will play baseball and continue his education at Alderson-Broaddus College in West Virginia.
A high honors student, Tatsch joins the Battlers, who compiled a 12-27 overall record this past spring after a 1-13 start with an 11-15 mark in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Alderson-Broaddus Head Coach Bill Barr will begin his third season in 2012.
He transferred back to Monessen from Greensburg Central Catholic following his sophomore year and started for the baseball team in 2010 and 2011.
An outfielder, he batted .350 for the Greyhounds over the past two seasons while leading the team in stolen bases and walks. Monessen went 6-10 overall in 2011 under eighth-year Head Coach Bill Matush.
Tatsch was a .400 hitter each of the past two seasons in the Fayette County League as a member of Belle Vernon's American Legion team.
He is a talented soccer player and helped Monessen's 2010 team enjoy the program's best season ever.
After missing the WPIAL playoffs in 2009 after seven consecutive post-season appearances from 2002-2008, Monessen, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Sam Perry, finished 2010 with a 15-3-1 overall record and won the WPIAL Class A Section 4 title with a 10-1-1 mark.
The section championship was Monessen's first in a sport outside of football and boys' and girls' basketball since the baseball team in 1985.
Tatsch was selected as the WPIAL Class A Section 4 Soccer Player of the Year.
