Ben Somera enters his 11th season as the head coach of the Wesleyan volleyball program in 2025.
The Cardinals' 2023 squad won their second NESCAC Championship with a stellar 24-2 overall record, boasting a perfect 10-0 record against conference opponents for the first time in team history. In the 2023 NESCAC Tournament, the top-seeded Cardinals beat Amherst in a sweep, Bowdoin in four sets, and Williams in a sweep in the title match. Earning the league's automatic bid, Somera led his squad to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season in 2023, reaching the Sweet 16 for the third time in team history. Notably, Wesleyan is the sole NESCAC volleyball program to make the NCAA Tournament for the past six seasons. Somera earned his first career NESCAC Coach of the Year honor and a second consecutive AVCA Region 1 Coach of the Year award.
In the 2022 regular season, the Cardinals went 21-2, securing the #1 seed for the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in team history. Although they finished as the NESCAC runner-up for the second straight season, Wesleyan advanced to the NCAA Tournament, hosting a regional pod for the first time in team history.
In 2021, Wesleyan closed the season at 19-7, reaching the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and the NESCAC Tournament title match. The 2019 season marked another milestone, with Somera's squad achieving its third consecutive 20-win season, finishing 21-5 overall and 9-1 in the NESCAC for the second consecutive year. The Cardinals secured an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, making their third straight national postseason appearance and advancing to the Second Round. Several players received accolades, including Phia Bellizzi as NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year and Bella Ahearn as NESCAC Rookie of the Year.
The 2018 campaign stands out as the most successful in program history, winning the NCAA Tournament Regional Championship and reaching the Elite Eight. The 2017 squad won the team's first-ever NESCAC Championship, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 22-6 overall record. Nicole Hilton received NESCAC Player of the Year and AVCA Second Team All-American honors. In 2016, Somera's squad tripled its overall win total, securing a spot in the NESCAC Tournament after a five-year hiatus.
Before Wesleyan, Somera served as the women’s volleyball head coach at Roger Williams University, achieving three conference championships and three NCAA Division III tournament bids from 2012-2014. His success included program records for wins, hitting percentage, assists per game, and kills per game, along with the program's only NCAA Tournament wins.
His extensive coaching career also includes 15 seasons at the NCAA Division I level, with notable stints at the University of South Carolina and Oregon State University. Somera began his coaching journey at the University of Southern California, his alma mater, where he played a key role in the development of All-America middle blockers.
Hailing from La Crescenta, Calif., Somera holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Southern California. He is married to Nancy Somera (Hillman), the Head Volleyball Coach at Fairfield University, and they have two children: Sam, who teaches social sciences at The Hotchkiss School, and Maile, a four-year contributor for the Yale Volleyball team, earning Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023.
