BJ Bertges is entering her first season as the Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at Penn State Beaver. 

Bertges was a dual sport athlete at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg for four years serving as a captain in both volleyball and softball.  As a volleyball player she earned All-Conference honors her senior season, and was the only player in the program’s history in the top five of the four major categories (kills, blocks, aces and assists). She was an integral part of the program’s foundation and was called “the most prolific all-around player in the program's 10 years” by Coach Simms who currently heads the program. 

After completing her undergraduate degree she went on to play for the Pittsburgh Passion, a professional women’s full contact football team.  As a special team’s player and defensive end, she was part of the 2007 National Championship team who also went undefeated that year in the NWFL.

BJ holds her Master of Science in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania.  She hopes that her experiences as an athlete at the collegiate level, with the Passion organization and her experience assisting with various volleyball organizations in Western Pennsylvania will help her transition into this new role as a head coach.  She is excited about the opportunity and cannot wait to continue to build the program here at Penn State Beaver. 

Coach Fontes is new to campus this year.  Originally from Brazil, she completed her studies at UTEP in Texas where she earned a doctorate and a master’s degree in psychology and a bachelor’s degree in communications.  She was hired at Penn State Beaver as the new Assistant Psychology professor where she will deliver psychology courses that include learning and cognition.  She is also working on research while she is here with the  primary research areas including psycholinguistics and cognition.

Prior to attending UTEP, she played club volleyball in Brazil from 1993-2000 which lead to her being recuited to play at the Division I level.  As her playing career ended, she quickly transitioned to life as a coach.  Fontes coached a club team in El Paso, Texas from 2004-2010. 

Coach Bertges is excited to have her here this season.  She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about both playing and coaching volleyball and both coaches are looking forward to a great 2012 season.