BENTON HARBOR — Lake Michigan College recently hired Brooklyn Kohlheim as head coach of the women’s basketball program and Rob Elliott-Schnafitz as head coach of the volleyball program.

Kohlheim comes to the college from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, an NCAA Division II school where she was assistant women’s basketball coach for six years, helping lead the team to the Elite Eight three times.

Prior to working at NSU, Kohlheim was assistant coach under LeAnn Freeland at the University of Indianapolis, where she helped the Division II program qualify for a NCAA tournament appearance and a top spot in the NCAA Division II polls. Kohlheim has also worked at the NCAA Division I level as assistant basketball coach at Florida Atlantic University.

Kohlheim played basketball at Florida Southern College, where she excelled as both point guard and shooting guard while earning her Bachelor of Arts in history. She also holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Indianapolis.

Her work in promoting positive coaching includes writing a free newsletter with articles and research which is distributed to over 1,200 coaches worldwide, a TEDx — NSU Talk, “The Ultimate Teammate — The High Five,” and joint author of the “Influence of Tactical Communication on Perceived State of Flow During Sport” research project while at NSU. She also has been a guest on John Leonzo’s “Coaches Chalk Talk Live” on YouTube.

Elliott-Schnafitz has played and coached volleyball for more than 20 years. His experience includes varsity-level coaching at St. Joseph and Lake Michigan Catholic High Schools in St. Joseph, Michigan, and assistant coach at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana. He has also coached club volleyball for Kal-Juniors, Southwest Michigan Volleyball club, USA Michigan Volleyball Club and Dunes Volleyball Club. Achievements include two Class B district championships, two regional appearances, and a Class A quarterfinal appearances, among others.

Elliott-Schnafitz  played men’s club volleyball while attending Hope College and has participated in numerous outdoor and USA Volleyball indoor tournaments throughout the U.S.

“We’re extremely pleased to have Brooklyn and Rob become part of the Red Hawks Athletics program,” said Athletic Director Melissa Grau. “With their skills and experience, we are confident they will take the women’s basketball and volleyball programs to unprecedented levels.”