Scarborough, ON – The Centennial College Department of Athletics and Recreation is pleased to announce the signing of Adriana Bento as the second head coach of the varsity women's volleyball program.
Bento, a native of Newmarket, Ontario, will be tasked with maintaining the upward trajectory of the program in 2018-19. Her wealth of experience coaching at the USPORTS and international level will be integral as she leads the Colts program moving forward. Most recently, Bento has served as an assistant coach at the University of Toronto and is currently working with Team Canada as an assistant coach with Volleyball Canada's National Beach Team.
Adriana also brings a wealth of technical knowledge to the Colts program earned at some of the highest levels in the sport. She has obtained her Level 3 coaching accreditation and has been certified in Technical Theory, Advanced Development, and Performance and has been trained as a performance coaching for both Indoor and Beach.
"We are thrilled to hire someone as talented and tremendously experienced as Adriana to coach our women's volleyball team," said Darcy Brioux, Manager of Athletics and Recreation. "She brings incredible knowledge of the game as a former international player, as well as, a university and national team coach to Centennial. Her skill set and leadership will immediately benefit our student-athletes and help advance our women's volleyball program to another level of success.
As an athlete, Bento had a very accomplished playing career, playing professionally and representing her country over her 12-year career. Bento played 12 seasons of Indoor professionally in Brazil for a variety of club teams. She matched that with 11 seasons of Beach and had 20 Top-10 finishes over her career on the Brazilian National Federation Tour. At her peak, her she was ranked as high as 13th in the world. The three-time South American Champion (1995-1997) also represented Canada at the 1999 Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
"It is my honour to be named Head Coach of the Colts Women's Volleyball," said Bento. "I am very optimistic about the future. I am looking forward to continuing to lead this successful program that produces incredible athletes."
Coach Bento will take over from Matthew Cheung who had coached the Colts since their inception in 2015-16. Cheung guided the program from a 3-17 season in their inaugural campaign to a 15-3 record and a second place finish in 2017-18, earning him OCAA Coach of the Year honours.
The Colts will kick off their 2018-19 OCAA season on Saturday, October 20, 2018, when they will host Durham at 3:00 pm at the Progress AWC.