Coach Profile
Indoor & Beach Camp Director
Michelle Piantadosi-Lima

Michelle Piantadosi-Lima is Head Coach of the Women's Indoor and Beach Volleyball team at Eckerd College. Coach Piantadosi-Lima also hosts camps at Eckerd College and Shorecrest Preparatory School.
After coaching and playing extensively in the Volunteer State, Michelle Piantadosi-Lima returned to her home state of Florida as the 10th head coach in the history of the Eckerd volleyball program to begin in the fall of 2012.
Her continual growth to enhance and support student-athlete development led to her promotion to Assistant Athletic Director in July of 2018, in her first two years as Assistant AD, she enhanced education and support for student-athletes mental health and helped launch the Athletic Diversity Action Committee.
She also launched the beach volleyball program in 2015, quickly turning it into one of the top small college programs in the country. In 2016, Eckerd claimed the Rox Small College Championship and finished runners-up in both 2017 and 2018. In 2018, her No. 1 pair of Sibson and Paula Hoffmann ended the season ranked third in the AVCA with a 22-1 record.
Piantadosi-Lima's immediate success as a head coach resulted in back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Championship South Regional and two runner-up efforts toward the top of the Sunshine State Conference standings. This also included a combined 41 wins and a winning percentage pushing close to .700 in her first two years. She is the fastest coach to reach 50 wins in program history and led the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances in her first four seasons.
In 2019, she led the squad to a 19-12 record, where the team set a new single-season record for aces as a team. Sydney Case was named to the All-SSC and All-Region team.
Piantadosi-Lima navigated the Tritons to their fourth NCAA South Regional appearance in her six years on the bench in 2017 while also winning the 100th match of her career during the season. She currently ranks second in program history in wins (105). Kaitlyn Sibson earned All-SSC, All-Region, and All-American honors while shattering several program records in the process.
In 2016, her squad posted another winning mark (18-13) while going 9-7 in conference play including a victory over No. 22 Florida Southern. For the second straight year, her team boasted an AVCA All-American as JaQuayla Baker earned honorable mention honors along with first-team all-conference and all-region.
The 2015 season saw a strong finish that earned the Tritons a bid to the NCAA South Regional for the third time under her leadership. The season also featured an AVCA All-American selection in Tjasa Kotnik, who also earned first-team all-conference and all-region honors.
In 2014, three of Piantadosi-Lima's players earned All-SSC selections including two freshmen named to the All-Newcomer Team.
During the 2013 season, the team put together a streak of 11 wins in 12 games towards the end of the regular season to earn a No. 3 seed in national tournament action. Piantadosi-Lima had representation on All-American, All-South Region, and All-SSC teams again as her accomplished student-athletes continued to push for top spots in the career record books.
In 2012, Piantadosi-Lima helped guide two student-athletes to AVCA All-American status (Ali McAlvany, Lindsay Biggs) while a total of four made the All-Sunshine State Conference Team (McAlvany, Biggs, Kaleigh Humphrey, Emily Schadow). Her successful debut included a 21-10 overall record with a 12-4 mark in the league.
Her 20+ single-season win totals (2012, 2013) represent two of the nine recorded in the program's history.
She also launched the beach volleyball program in 2015, quickly turning it into one of the top small college programs in the country. In 2016, Eckerd claimed the Rox Small College Championship and finished runners-up in both 2017 and 2018. In 2018, her No. 1 pair of Sibson and Paula Hoffmann ended the season ranked third in the AVCA with a 22-1 record.
Additionally, Piantadosi-Lima served as Eckerd's Senior Woman Administrator for nine years, was a member of the athletics department senior management team oversaw student-athlete well-being and development, and served as the department's Title IX coordinator.
Piantadosi-Lima was previously the assistant volleyball coach at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.
She is familiar with the Sunshine State Conference, coaching at league member Nova Southeastern University for four years beginning in 2006. In 2008, the Sharks reached the “Elite 8” and captured the NCAA South Region crown for the first time in school history.
Her coaching accomplishments at NSU landed recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as ‘one of the 30 best coaches in the country under the age of 30.’
Piantadosi-Lima arrived at Nova Southeastern after a standout four-year career at the University of Tennessee, where she was a two-year captain. During her time with the Lady Vols, she was a four-year starter and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors after her senior season, while also being selected to the USA Volleyball A2 Team. She holds the school record for most kills and attacks in a season in the 30-point rally-scoring era (2001-07).
Following her career in Tennessee, Piantadosi-Lima competed professionally in Salzburg, Austria, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since 2008, her most recent professional endeavors were found in beach volleyball playing in several AVP tournaments all over the nation.
Piantadosi-Lima graduated in 2005 from Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. She achieved her Master's degree in Education with a specialization in Athletic Administration from Nova Southeastern in 2010.