email: grovesta@gvsu.edu
Office phone: (616) 331-2545

Named Head Coach on Jan. 12, 2010

Grand Valley State Director of Athletics, Tim Selgo, announced today that Alicia Groveston will be the first-ever head women's lacrosse coach at Grand Valley State. GVSU, which announced that it would be adding women's lacrosse as the 20th varsity sport on September 15, will begin play as an independent in the spring of 2012. Groveston, who most recently was the head women's lacrosse coach at Gannon University in Erie, Pa. will begin her duties at Grand Valley State February 1.

"We are excited to have Alicia lead our women's lacrosse program at Grand Valley State," said Selgo. "We had outstanding candidates interested in leading our program and Alicia rose to the top of that group. We were extremely impressed with her knowledge of the game and her enthusiastic approach to recruiting," added Selgo.

Groveston led Gannon to a 12-4 record during the 2009 campaign and a final Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) ranking of No. 8. The Knights finished 5-3 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), but failed to make the PSAC Tournament on a tie-breaker. In addition to an outstanding season on the field, Gannon's 2009 lacrosse team earned the IWLCA Merit Award for having the second-best team GPA (3.34) in DII lacrosse.

"I am extremely honored and privileged to join Grand Valley State University and lead the women's lacrosse program," said Groveston. "It is an exciting time in women's lacrosse and I am excited to build this program from the ground up and increase the awareness of women's lacrosse in the Midwest," added Groveston.

Prior to her arrival at Gannon, Groveston spent the 2008 season as an assistant for Belmont Abbey. The Crusaders posted a 12-7 record, including a 7-4 conference mark against Conference Carolina opponents. The squad was also nationally-ranked throughout the season in the IWLCA Top 10 poll. Groveston, an Academic All-American at Salisbury, spent three years prior to coaching at Belmont Abbey in private business. She started her coaching career as an assistant coach at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin, Maryland for two seasons where she coached two All-Americans there and helped guide Stephen Decatur to the regional championship.

The Annapolis, Md., native had a stellar playing career at Hartwick for two seasons, before transferring to Salisbury for her final two years of eligibility. Groveston played field hockey and lacrosse while at Hartwick. At Salisbury, she earned all-conference and regional all-america honors as a senior defender. In the process, she led Salisbury to an NCAA Regional Championship appearance. Groveston also earned Academic All-Conference and Academic All-America honors as a senior. She graduated magna cum laude from Salisbury in 2003 with a degree in Communication Arts/Mass Media. Groveston later received her MBA from Salisbury in 2004, graduating cum laude.