New Mexico volleyball legend Pauline Manser is entering her fourth year with the Lobo volleyball program. She was hired as an assistant coach for the University of New Mexico volleyball program in July 2015, and was promoted to Associate Head Beach Coach during the 2018 beach volleyball season.
An All-American twice during her New Mexico career, Manser played in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and was inducted to the Lobo Hall of Honor. Her duties include working with both UNM’s indoor and beach volleyball teams.
“I could not be happier to be adding Pauline to our staff here at the University of New Mexico,” head coach Jeff Nelson said at the time of her hiring. “She has an amazing level of experience to share with our student-athletes. It is always great to bring back a famous alum but to get someone who is extremely talented on both the indoor and beach side is really special.”
In her first season at UNM, the Lobos played through an solid 2015 campaign, finishing with an overall record of 17-14, and a fourth-place Mountain West record of 10-8. Lobo seniors Hannah Johnson and Skye Gullatt both made some noise in the record books as Johnson became the first Lobo in program history to record over 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs, and Gullatt nabbed a share of the program record in total blocks (465 blocks). That duo both earned All-Mountain West honors, with Simone Henderson and Cassie House capturing Honorable Mention All-MW honors.
In 2016, a trio of seniors made their way into the record books, and helped New Mexico to a 16-16 record along the way. Julia Warren, who earned her third All-Mountain West honor at season’s end, made her way to fifth in program history in career digs, finishing with 1,201 digs. Cassie House and Devanne Sours both capped their careers with over 1,000 career kills, as House ammassed 1,143 putaways and Sours an even 1,000. Additionally, redshirt junior Ashley Kelsey eclipsed 1,000 career digs and enters her senior season with 1,040 digs.
2017 was a year of transition as New Mexico sported nine freshman — the sixth-most in the 334-member NCAA. With a bevy of new faces, UNM was able to translate its youth and some strong upperclassmen play into a 16-16 record. Under the guide of Manser, sophomore Lauren Twitty emerged as one of the premier outside hitters in the Mountain West, leading the team in kills/set and points/set en route to All-MW honors. She recorded 14 matches with double-figure kills during league play, including a masterful 25-kill performance in a three-set win at Wyoming — the most kills in a three-set MW match during the season. Senior libero Ashley Kelsey also nabbed an Honorable Mention All-MW selection after logging 4.16 digs/set in MW matches. She finished her career with 1,529 career digs, third-most in program history.
Her high-level coaching in recent years rivals her elite playing experience. She spent four years as the head coach of the Australian Women’s National Volleyball team from 2010 to 2014, after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach on Australia’s national team.
“I feel lucky to come back to where it all started, and get a chance to give back to the program that gave me so much,” Manser said. “The idea of working across both disciplines is very attractive. My journey as a player involved the love of both. Each taught me a lot about myself, and playing each really helped improve the other.”
Before joining the coaching ranks, the Australian spent 15 years playing internationally. She amassed over 150 career appearances for Australia in indoor volleyball competition. Her playing career also included a fifth place finish in beach volleyball at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia.
“Pauline is one of the all-time greats of Lobo Volleyball, and she has been an active alum and great friend to the program,” Nelson noted. “I have had a few opportunities to work with and get to know her. She is a class act that will add to every area of our program.”
“I am excited to have the opportunity to invest full time in coaching as opportunities like this don’t really exist in Australia,” Manser continued. “I am excited to be a part of the development of the sand program, and I am looking forward to helping continue to grow and raise the bar for UNM Volleyball program.”
Manser came to the University of New Mexico from Perth, Australia, lettering with the Lobos from 1988 to 1991. She still ranks in the top ten in New Mexico history in a variety of career statistics, including hitting efficiency, kills, total blocks, block assists and points. Her .372 career hitting efficiency mark is the highest all-time mark in Lobo history.
While in the cherry and silver, the Australian helped guide her team to a perfect 12-0 record in the Western Athletic Conference during the 1990 season. The conference championship season also brought Manser her first All-America honors. She was the 1991 WAC Player of the Year and took home WAC Player of the Week honors five times en route to her second All-America honor. She graduated cum laude in 1991 with a science degree in health promotion.