Nolan was named head volleyball coach at Dominican in April 2016. Nolan is the second coach of the Penguins since Dominican made the transition to NCAA Division II athletics in 2009.
Nolan joined Dominican from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine (NCAA Div. III). In six seasons at the helm of the Monks, Nolan posted a 112-74 record with five Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament appearances, including the program’s winningest season in 2015 at 27-6. She served as the program's assistant coach in 2009.
Nolan was born in Cuba and moved to California when she was two years old. Nolan played her prep career at Bishop Montgomery HS in Torrance, California, then went on to play at El Camino College, she was named California Junior College Player of the Year and State Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player. She earned a full scholarship to UC Santa Barbara, where she garnered PCAA Player of the Week honors. UCSB advanced to the first round of the NCAA playoffs in each of Nolan's two years. She is still fifth for the Gauchos in career kills average (3.78), second in kills (596) and aces (64) and ninth in digs (509) in a single season. She ranks fourth all-time in a single match with 35 kills against Pepperdine and sixth in a single match with 38 digs versus Pacific. Nolan went on to play beach volleyball and earned a AAA beach rating in 1987.
Coach Nolan’s résumé also includes 23 years of elementary school education, having taught second grade in Maine since 2001. Her husband, Jim, is a music teacher. They have four children, Alli, Adam, Abbey, and Aaron.
