Handing the reigns of the volleyball program from one legend to another, Bluffton College looks to keep their place among the elite NCAA Division III programs in the country. Sara Wakefield has been announced as the next BC volleyball mentor, taking over for interim head coach Sandy Westrick who filled the position vacated by BC's all-time winningest coach Dr. Kim Fischer.

Wakfield is a 1998 BC graduate who spent the past year as a mathematics teacher and head volleyball coach at Lakota High School in Kansas, Ohio. "I'm excited to step into such a successful program," said Wakefield speaking of the move back o BC volleyball. "I look forward to the challenge of keeping the tradition going."

Dr. Fischer, Wakefield’s coach at BC, recorded 521 wins in her 19 seasons of coaching. She took her teams into post-season action 12 times and produced numerous all-conference and all-region athletes. Wakefield was a member of three of those post-season campaigns in 1994, 1996, and 1997. As a senior she captained Dr. Fischer's last squad and led the Beavers to a 27-14 record and a spot in the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament. "My goal is that the teams I coach will experience success similar to what I was able to be a part of," she commented.

Wakefield garnered a host of accolades during her career. As a sophomore she was named first team All-Association of Mideast Colleges in BC's last season in that conference. The upcoming season will be the second season for BC in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. She was named to the NCAA Great Lakes Region first team following her senior season and was also named Academic All-Region. She was named the Bluffton College Female Athlete of the Year in 1998.

In her academic career at BC Wakefield was named the 1998 Distinguished Scholar in Mathematics and was on the Academic Dean's List with Continued Distinction for 10 quarters. She served on the 1996 NCAA Life Skills Committee and has served on the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since 1997.

Along with her husband Vince, a 1997 BC graduate and four-year member of the baseball program, Sara is looking forward to coming back to BC. "I had a great experience in my four years at Bluffton, and I'm excited about rejoining the BC community." She plans to begin work in the masters degree program at Bowling Green State University this fall.