Sept. 3, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In many ways, Vanderbilt lacrosse coach Cathy Swezey felt like she had a second head coach on the sidelines with her last year.
That’s because when she looked down at Beth Hewitt she didn’t see a first-year assistant coach. Instead, she saw someone with five years of head coaching experience, someone with a success-rich background who had taken a Division II program to two Final Fours.
So after just one year, Swezey says it was an easy decision to promote Hewitt to associate head coach as the Commodores gear up for fall practices and the 2016 season.
“Moving through the year and just working with somebody who had a head coach’s mentality was a great experience,” Swezey said. “I think we really fed well off of each other. We work extraordinarily well together. I consider myself very lucky. I got to work with Susan Ellis for 15 years, and she was a tremendous coach. Then I bring Beth in here and I’m able to work with someone else who has been great. I think the main thing is it is a quick promotion, but she just brought so much. Because of her head coaching experience it is hard for me to think of her as an assistant coach. She deserves the title.”
Hewitt enters her second season at Vanderbilt as the defensive coordinator in addition to helping with the midfielders. She guided a unit that ranked third in the BIG EAST Conference in caused turnovers and that contributed to a league-best 18.6 ground balls per game.
She also coached defender Alex Duckenfield, who was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection and earned All-West/Midwest Region honors from the IWLCA. Thanks to her contributions and guidance, midfielders Emma Dagres and Alexa Kunowsky also earned All-BIG EAST accolades.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to coach lacrosse at Vanderbilt and to continue my time here as associate head coach,” Hewitt said. “I want to thank Cathy Swezey, (senior administrator) Candice Lee and (athletic director) David Williams and the members of our administration for giving me this opportunity. I’m excited for the future of Vanderbilt lacrosse, and I am honored to be a part of such an incredible program.”
Swezey hired Hewitt last summer after she spent five years as the head coach of Le Moyne College, a Division II powerhouse in New York. In her five years at the helm, Le Moyne compiled an astonishing record of 71-19 (.789) with a 43-5 (.896) mark in the Northeast-10 Conference.
She guided the Dolphins to two Final Fours, three NCAA Tournaments, two NE-10 regular-season championships and conference tournament title. During a three-year stretch, from 2011-13, the Dolphins were 50-8, winning at least 16 games every year and not losing more than three games a season. In 2011, Hewitt, a New York native, led Le Moyne to a school-record 18 wins and their first of two Final Four trips.
She was handed the reins of the program before she turned 30, this on the heels of valuable experience out in the Pacific Northwest. She spent three years as an assistant coach at the University of Oregon, helping the Ducks launch their program.
She was Oregon’s defensive coordinator while also helping recruit the program’s first recruiting classes. The Ducks improved their win total each year.
She spent her college years at North Carolina where she was an All-American. The All-ACC midfielder led her team in scoring the last two seasons and helped the Tar Heels win an ACC championship and reach the Final Four.
She received her bachelor’s degree in communication studies from North Carolina in 2004 and has her master’s degree in educational leadership from Oregon. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Erik, and their two young children, Keegan (4), and Kaden (1).
