Jennifer Bell

After successfully leading the Trojan volleyball program for 11 seasons, Jennifer Bell stepped away from coaching following the triumphant 2008 campaign to devote her full attention to compliance duties and other responsibilities associated with her position as Senior Woman Administrator – a position which she accepted in 2002. The native of native of Spartanburg, S.C., was named Assistant Director of Athletics early in 2011.

In addition to her past coaching duties, Bell has been involved with compliance since she started at AU, beginning as the Recruiting Coordinator and was named full-time Compliance Coordinator in January, 2009.

Bell arrived at Anderson University on April 13, 1998 after serving as the head coach at Wofford College for four years and guiding the Lady Terriers program during its transition from an NCAA Division II Independent to a Division I Southern Conference team.

In her 11 seasons at AU, Bell compiled an overall record of 207-176 (.540) and led the Trojans to eight winning seasons and 19 or more victories in a single season seven times. After becoming a full member of the CVAC in 1999, Bell’s teams also posted a conference record of 116-66 (.637) and the Trojans finished in fourth place or higher six times, including a second-place finish in 2001 and captured the 2008 Conference Carolinas Tournament title, marking the Trojans first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They won 11 or more league matches in a single season eight times and played in the conference championship match on four occasions (’99, ’01, ’02 and ‘08).

During her tenure on the sidelines, Bell coached 27 All-Conference players, one CVAC Player of the Year and a conference tournament MVP (Amanda Edwards, ‘08). She was named NAIA Southeast Independent Sectional Coach of the Year following her first season at AU (1998) after leading the Trojans to a 17-15 overall record and winning the NAIA Southeast Independent Sectional Tournament for the first time in school history.

As an encore, Bell was named CVAC Coach of the Year in 1999 after guiding the Trojans to a 20-13 overall mark and 12-4 in the CVAC. The ’99 squad set a new school record for wins in a season, which would later be broken in 2002 (23 wins), and yet again in 2004 (25 victories). The 2007 squad equaled the 20-win mark and the 2008 championship team collected 24 wins. 
In '04, Bell led the Trojans to a school single-season record 25 victories and the team's first-ever regional ranking (No. 8). And for the first time in school history, the Trojans were victorious over Presbyterian College – a team that went on to play in the national tournament that year.
In addition to the 2008 Conference Carolinas tournament title, Bell’s teams claimed numerous tournament championships, including the Montreat Invitational (’98), Tusculum Invitational (’04), and the Anderson Invitational (’02, ’04 and ’05).

Her teams also performed in the classroom as well as on the court, always finishing the year in the top four of all teams’ grade point averages.

Bell coached her two younger sisters while on the bench at Anderson. Her youngest sister Leslie (Nodine) Clark is Anderson’s all-time assist leader and was named CVAC Player of the Year in 2001. Her middle sister Melissa (Nodine) Horton played as an outside hitter for the Trojans.
A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Bell played for highly-renowned coach Paula Kirkland at Dorman High School. She graduated from Wofford College in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. While there, she set single match, season and career records in assists and service aces. Following her senior season, she was named Most Valuable Player for the Lady Terriers.

In addition to her duties as Assistant Athletic Director, Bell also serves as Anderson University’s Senior Woman Administrator, Compliance Coordinator and advisor of the student-athlete advisory committee.

She resides in Anderson with her husband, Lee, and their two children, Madison and Eli.

The Bell File
1990-1994    Volleyball Player at Wofford College
1994-1997     Head coach at Wofford (4 seasons)
April 13, 1998   Named AU Head Coach (11 seasons) and Recruiting Coordinator
2002      Named Senior Woman Administrator
January, 2009    Named full-time Compliance Coordinator
Spring, 2011   Named Assistant Director of Athletics