Limestone hires successful NAIA coach Benson to be new head coach

A head coach who led a NAIA team to multiple national semifinal appearances will take over one of the top ConfCarolinas programs.

Limestone announced during the weekend that it hired former Warner University coach Steve Benson to be its new men’s volleyball head coach for the upcoming season.

“I’m very excited for this opportunity at Limestone,” Benson said in a statement. “I’ve had the opportunity to coach against Limestone while at two other schools, and now I am excited to coach for the Saints.”

Benson guided Warner to a combined 64-22 record and NAIA National Invitational Championship appearances in all three seasons with the Florida college. In addition, Warner was the No. 4 overall seed for the NAIA championship last season and advanced to the semifinals for the second time under Benson.

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Warner in the last three seasons went 3-2 against NCAA Division I-II teams, including a sweep against Limestone in 2017.

Benson before arriving to Warner served as the head coach for the men’s volleyball and women’s volleyball teams at Eastern Mennonite from 2005-11.

Along with his college coaching experience, Benson was the Sports Development Manager for the USA Volleyball Florida Region and was involved with the USA Volleyball High Performance program. He also coached club teams to three top-five finishes at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships.

“We are excited to add coach Benson to our staff,” athletics director Mike Cerino said in a statement. “With his background and proven ability to produce quality teams, I know he will be a valuable asset in building the Limestone men’s volleyball program.”

Benson replaces Brandon Skweres as LImestone’s head coach. Skweres after spending multiple seasons as the head coach for both the Limestone men’s and women’s volleyball team will now solely coach the Saints women’s volleyball team.

Limestone finished last season in fourth place in the ConfCarolinas and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals. It also was the second time in the last three years that the Saints have reached the ConfCarolinas Tournament semifinals.