Haverhill, MA (January 24, 2023) – Northern Essex Community College Director of Athletics Dan Blair has announced the hiring of Franchesca Nival as the Knights new women's volleyball coach. Nival will begin her duties on February 1st and begin her first team to take the court in August.
"I'm excited to welcome Franchesca to our Knights family. She's going to bring a new brand of energy to our successful program. I look forward to watching her coach our program at a high level and provide a positive student-athlete experience to the young women in the program," commented Blair.
Northern Essex will be the first collegiate coaching position for Nival who brings several years of club coaching while also adding experience at the high school level. Her club coaching experience includes with both the Andover Pumas and Athleta Sports Club. At the high school level she served as an assistant coach at Lowell High for two seasons.
As a player, she has 17 years' experience as an outside hitter and defensive specialist, including four years at Lowell High School and three seasons at UMass-Lowell as they transitioned to the NCAA Division I level.
"I am extremely excited, and grateful about this opportunity as the new women's head volleyball coach here at NECC! My plan is to help as many players as possible further their volleyball career, as they move forward onto the next level," added Nival.
Nival is the current owner of the Athleta Sports Club which aims to train youth and teens in preparing to play volleyball at a high level and is a certified coach by USA Volleyball.
A native of Lowell, she currently resides in Andover and earned a Bachelor's Degree in communication from UMass-Lowell.