Aug. 26, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova University head women's basketball coach Harry Perretta today announced the hiring of Heather Vulin as a Wildcat assistant coach. Vulin replaces Trish Juhline who served as an interim assistant coach for the 2007-08 season.

"Heather is a great addition to our staff," said Perretta. "She is a very good recruiter who will bring energy and enthusiasm to our program. We are fortunate to get someone of her caliber."

Vulin arrives at Villanova from Sacred Heart University where she was as an assistant from 2002-2008, including serving as recruiting coordinator from 2004-08. During her stint at Sacred Heart, she was instrumental in helping the Pioneers to an impressive 124-55 overall record and an 85-23 mark in Northeast Conference play. Vulin helped Sacred Heart become the only team in Northeast Conference history to win at least 18 games for seven consecutive seasons.

From a recruiting standpoint, she recruited and signed Alissa Apo who was the 2008 NEC Rookie of the Year and Kaitlin Sowinski who was named first team All-NEC in 2008 and is only the second Sacred Heart player to earn first team All-NEC distinction. Sowinski also finished fifth in the nation in blocked shots at 3.4 per game. Vulin also assisted in the recruitment of 2006 NEC Player of the Year Amanda Pape.

Before Sacred Heart, Vulin was a graduate assistant coach at North Dakota State University from 2000-02. In her two year stay there, North Dakota State tallied a 43-18 record and earned a spot in the regional round of the 2001 NCAA Division II tournament.

Vulin was a two-sport athlete at the University of Minnesota-Morris where she was a four-year letterwinner in basketball and volleyball. She served as a team captain in basketball and garnered Academic All-Conference accolades in both basketball and volleyball.

She graduated from Minnesota-Morris in 1999 with a bachelor degree in secondary education-social sciences, psychology and women's studies. She earned a master's degree in education from North Dakota State.