Lee, Akeo Join Volleyball Staff

First year Syracuse volleyball head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam announced Aven Lee and Lesli Akeo have joined his staff as assistant coaches. Lee will also serve as the program's recruiting coordinator while Akeo joins Ganesharatnam after spending the past year as an assistant on his staff at Temple.

Lee comes to Syracuse after spending the past two seasons on the sidelines at Portland as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator. While at Portland, Lee worked primarily with the pin attackers and liberos while overseeing the team's serve receive and back row defense.

"I want to thank Coach Ganesharatnam for this opportunity," said Lee. "I believe in him and the vision he has for this program. I am 100% invested in working together with our team to turn his vision into reality and I am excited to be a part of the Syracuse community. Go 'Cuse!"

Lee was a five-time Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Conference Champion during a standout career at Hawaii. She helped her team to the NCAA Final Four twice (1996 and 2000) and back-to-back regional appearances from 1998-1999. In 1999 she landed her first coaching job at Kamehameha Schools as the varsity assistant coach. After nearly a decade coaching at the scholastic level in Hawaii, Lee was named the assistant coach at the University of the Pacific in 2009. While at Pacific, she was responsible for a variety of items within the program including recruiting and fundraising off the court.

In 2013 Lee moved to Nevada Reno where she was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wolfpack. After her time there, she was at Cal State Sacramento where she held the same role on the indoor side and was the director of beach volleyball operations for the Hornet's beach team from 2015-17 before returning to her alma mater as the director of volleyball operations from 2017-19. At Hawaii, Lee oversaw the day-to-day operations of the program including non-conference scheduling, events planning, budget management, video and volley-metrics management as well as video analysis for recruiting and scouting.

Lee spent the 2019 season as a volunteer assistant coach at Hawaii Pacific where she assisted with technical training and strategizing of team systems. She also assisted in training all positions within the program.

She has been the head coach of four different club teams in Hawaii and was an assistant coach from the Senior Women's A2 and Junior National A2 Teams with USA Volleyball from 2008-09 where she did on-court training and coaching of selected athletes to the USA pipeline.

"I am excited about having Aven [Lee] on our staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator," Ganesharatnam said. "She brings a wealth of experience as a great technical trainer and veteran recruiter. She has proven herself as a great player at the highest level and a very good coach. Her energy and effort level are unmatched and I am looking forward to going through this experience with her together."

Akeo spent the 2021 season as an assistant coach on Ganesharatnam's staff at Temple. She planned and executed group and individual practice sessions, analyzed practice and game film, created scouting reports and assisted with recruiting.

"Thank you to Coach Bakeer and Syracuse University for this tremendous opportunity," Akeo said. "I'm excited to contribute to the success and growth of the student-athletes and volleyball program. Syracuse is execeptional in both academics and athletics, while also being an active partner in the local community. I look forward to being part of the Syracuse 'ohana."

Akeo had a hand in coaching both the 18s and 14s for the Na Keiki Mauloa Volleyball Club, developing practice plans and workouts as well as scouting opponents.

She served as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Kamehameha Schools - Kapalama High School, for six seasons, helping the team to no lower than a runner-up finish at the Hawaii State Championships, including winning titles in 2013, 2015, and 2017. There, she trained two Hawaii Gatorade State Player of the Years in Alohi Robins 2014 and Lexis Akeo 2018.

Prior to coaching at the high school level, Akeo coached at a number of clubs in Hawaii. She coached her 13s team for Piko Volleyball Club to a first place finish at the Hawaii Region Qualifier, as well as a top finish at the 2014 Pacific Northwest Qualifier.

Akeo is one of the most decorated volleyball players in Siena College history. She is the school's all-time leader in digs (2,285) and digs per set (5.12) and was the Siena College Female Student Athlete of the Year in 2013. A three-year captain for the Saints, Akea led her team to a pair of runner-up Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship finishes and was the 2012 MAAC Libero of the Year. She earned 2011 MAAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors and earned multiple All-MAAC honors. The three-time MAAC All-Academic Team honoree was inducted to the Siena Hall of Fame in 2018.

She has succeeded at every level, beginning in high school when she led her school to a pair of Hawaii Division I State Championships.

"Lesli [Akeo] comes from a volleyball family," Ganesharatnam said. "Both of her sisters have competed or are competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. She was an excellent student athlete and collected some good experiences at various coaching levels. She is hardworking, loyal, and has a great volleyball mind. She has already worked with me in the past which will be very valuable throughout this transition period. Our student athletes will greatly benefit from her presence in our program."

Syracuse University Athletics

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