KESSINGER, MERTZ JOIN MONTCLAIR STATE STAFF

Montclair, NJ (7/12/07) – Montclair State University head women’s basketball coach Beth O’Boyle has announced the addition of two new assistant coaches to her staff as David Kessinger and Shannon Mertz (right) join the Red Hawks for the 2007-08 season.

Kessinger comes to MSU after spending the past three seasons as the head coach at Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ where he resurrected the Bulldogs’ program into a contender in the Garden State Athletic Conference. Inheriting a struggling program in 2004 BCC went from 2-23 that season to 7-17 the following year. Last season Bergen won nine of their final 10 games to advance to the GSAC Regional Championship Game where it lost to nationally-ranked Brookdale Community College. During his tenure, Kessinger coached two three First-Team All-GSAC players and added an All-Region and Honorable Mention All-America recipient in Sabrina Foster in 2007.

Kessinger also coached in the AAU circuit at several levels in northern New Jersey the past several years, most recently with the Pequannock Orange Crush, a U15 girls’ squad. He is a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a degree in Business Marketing.

Mertz joins the Red Hawks following a very successful career at Catholic University in Washington, DC helping the program to two Capital Athletic Conference regular-season championships. A four-year letterwinner, Mertz was the Cardinals team captain in 2007 and averaged 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 75 percent from the free throw line. She tallied 10 points, six rebounds and for assists in Catholic’s win over MSU in January. In 2006, Mertz garnered All-CAC honors as she led the team with 12.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest starting 26 of 28 contests. She was a 1,000-point scorer for CUA, reaching the milestone in the Cardinals final regular-season game against 10 th-ranked Mary Washington. In addition, Mertz ran cross country where she served as the team captain.

Mertz completed her degree in World Politics from Catholic this past May. In 2005 she interned in the British Parliament in London working alongside parliament member Huw Irranca-Davies assisting him with research and preparing briefings on the country of Uganda while also dealing with Davies’ constituents. She will begin her work toward her master’s degree in Teaching at Montclair State in September.

The Red Hawks are coming off an 18-10 season during the 2006-07 campaign. Montclair, which captured the ECAC Division III Metro Championship for the fifth time in program history, opens its new season on November 16 when it competes at the Emory University Tip-Off Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia.