Penny Lucas-White

As the team concluded the 2007 season, head coach Penny Lucas-White
celebrated over a decade at the helm of the Air Force volleyball program.
Lucas-White joined the Academy staff in 1996, just as the Academy made the
jump from Division II to Division I status.

After 11 years, she remains the only coach in the Falcons' Division I
history.

"I am so very excited to be with this program," Lucas-White said. "We're
making great strides and I'm excited to see how far we can go. We're growing
and building. It's going to be fun to watch."

During her tenure on the Falcons' bench, 17 different cadet-athletes have
been named to the academic All-Mountain West Conference team (including one
MWC Scholar-Athlete of the Year), while four others earned academic
All-Western Athletic Conference honors. Three have been named to various
academic all-district teams and two others have been named to the All-MWC
teams.

Lucas-White joined the Academy staff in 1996 from the University of Memphis,
where she compiled a 95-80 record in five seasons as head coach of the
Tigers.  She guided the team to a 27-8 record in 1994 and their first-ever
appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

That team recorded a perfect record in conference play and picked up its
second Great Midwest Conference title.  One year earlier, the Tigers nabbed
the conference title with an 11-1 record.  Lucas-White earned conference
Coach of the Year honors in 1993 and 1994 for her spectacular seasons.

The Falcons' mentor draws her coaching expertise from an impressive playing
career at the collegiate, national and international levels.

Lucas-White earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors, as well as
the Most Valuable Player award, in her first season playing at Louisiana
State University. Lucas-White is still ranked among the program's top-10 for
assisted blocks in a season (129) and digs in a season (400); both which she
set during her junior year.

After an outstanding three-year career at LSU, Lucas-White opted to leave
the collegiate ranks to play on a higher level overseas in the German
Professional League.

Two years later, the United States National team came knocking at her door
and the middle hitter was chosen to play with America's best in the NORCECA
(North, Central America and Caribbean) tournament and at the 1985
Pan-American Games.

Remaining stateside, Lucas-White spent two years playing professionally in
the U.S. Pro League, splitting her time between the Dallas Belles and the
Chicago Breeze. While there, she received awards for both blocking and
spiking efficiency.

Overseas play called once again and Lucas-White departed the United States
to join the ranks of the Italian Professional League in Matera.

During the 1988-89 season, she competed with the team in Argrigento and was
named to all-tournament teams twice in three years.  Also during the 1988-89
season in Argrigento, Lucas-White served as a player and coach.

While competing professionally in the United States and Europe, Lucas-White
remained active during the collegiate season as an assistant coach with the
Auburn University women's program from 1987-89.  The Auburn team boasted a
63-47 record in her tenure, achieving back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1988
and 1989.

When her tour with the Italian League ended in 1991, Lucas-White accepted a
position as the head coach at the University of Memphis. While there, she
combined skill on the court with skill in the classroom, as her Tiger
players maintained an average grade-point-average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

As a player, Lucas-White continued to hone her skills, earning both Rookie
of the Year and Player of the Year honors for her United States Volleyball
Association Open team in the summer of 1993.

While coaching at Memphis, she finished her education, earning a bachelor's
degree in physical education in 1993.

Lucas-White continued her professional play during the 1997 season with the
Colorado Thunder of the National Volleyball Association (NVA). The Thunder
voted her to be the league's most valuable player and its number one pick in
the NVA inaugural draft.

In addition to her coaching duties at the Academy, Lucas-White has also been
an active member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).  In
2003, she helped the AVCA receive a NCAA minority women's coaches grant for
a program entitled "Volleyball: Live It! Love It! Coach It!" and has served
on the board of directors as the at-large representative for minority
coaches.

A resident of Colorado?Springs, Lucas-White has two sons, Kyle and Keefe,
and a daughter, Kayla.