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Dawn Easley
Dawn Easley heads into her 10th season as head women's lacrosse coach at Campbell in 2023.
Over her nine years at the helm in Buies Creek, 38 Camels have been named All-Big South, including 18 first team honorees, three conference players of the year and four Big South Scholar-Athletes of the Year, including Big South All-Decade performers Loren Day and Melissa Placek.
In 2022, Easley led the Camels to their third double figure win season, setting a school record for Big South victories in a single year with seven. CU also set another program record with seven consecutive wins during the 2022 campaign.
CU ranked among the nation's top-10 in caused turnovers (seventh, 11.29), ground balls (third, 20.94), shots per game (fifth, 34.94) and shots on goal per game (fourth, 26.53). CU also rated among the NCAA Division I leaders in draw controls per game (12th, 16.82), points per game (17th, 22.00), scoring offense (16th, 15.18) and assists per game (19th, 6.82).
Additionally, Sam Bischoff, Rebekah Taylor and Megan Matthews earned top individual honors from the Big South Conference, with Bischoff being named midfielder of the year, Taylor defensive player of the year and Matthews scholar-athlete of the year. In addition, Bischoff and Taylor were selected to the all-conference first team, Matthews second team, and Chandler Stewart honorable mention all-conference.
For the second straight year, Campbell was also named an Academic Honor Squad by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, while a dozen Camels earned Academic Honor Roll recognition from the organization.
Easley guided the Camels to their most successful four-year stretch in the program history from 2016-19, totaling 35 wins, reaching at least the Big South Championship semifinals over that span, as well as the program’s first ever conference title game appearance in 2017.
CU’s success continued in 2021, earning the No. 2 seed in the Big South tournament, matching the program’s highest seeding in program history (2017), going 5-1 in conference play during the regular season. In addition to Campbell's 10 school records set in 2021, seven Camels, another program record, were named to the Big South's all-conference teams.
In a shortened 2020 season, Easley guided one of the most exciting young offenses in the Big South, paced by the redshirt freshman duo of Megan Matthews and Julianna Sanchez, who combined for 49 points. Sanchez was a two-time Big South Freshman of the Week, while Matthews garnered Big South All-Academic accolades for the Camels.
In 2019, five Camels were named All-Big South, including four-time all-conference performer Melissa Placek, who finished her career as Campbell's all-time leader in draw controls, while ranking second in overall and free position goals, top-five points, games played and started, as well as top-10 in assists, ground balls and caused turnovers.
Amanda Chasin, Sam Carey, Annie Pazulski and Rose Prizzi also joined Placek on All-Big South teams, while Campbell, once again, finished among the top programs in the Big South Conference, reaching the league’s semifinals.
Campbell notched nine wins in 2018 while navigating its most rigorous schedule to date, facing three NCAA Tournament teams (four games) and taking on nationally ranked opponents four times. Campbell, meanwhile, set single-season school records for goals (245) and draw controls (283).
Six Camels were honored in the Big South's postseason awards for the second-straight season, with three first team performers (Melissa Placek, Sam Carey and Megan Reilly), one second team honoree (Kayla Reilly), plus an honorable mention (Amanda Chasin). Mackenzie Koeller was also named the league's scholar-athlete of the year for the second straight season.
In 2017, Easley led the Camels to the most successful season in program history. CU recorded its highest all-time winning percentage (.556) and won 10 games for the second-straight season.
Campbell posted a program-best 6-1 record in the Big South to finish second in the league, the best finish in program history. Along the way, the Camels reeled off a program-record five-straight victories to open conference play.
After earning its first bye past the Big South Championship quarterfinals, Campbell won its first tournament semifinal contest, an 11-9 triumph over Winthrop. The season ended in the program’s first Big South Championship game appearance against league champions High Point.
Easley mentored a program-record six All-Big South selections including first team honorees Merredith Bechler, Melissa Placek and Kayla Reilly. Megan Reilly and Erin O’Hara were second team selections while Mackenzie Koeller earned an honorable mention nod.
Koeller was also named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year and became the program’s first CoSIDA Academic All-District at-large selection.
After coaching CU against its first ever ranked opponent, No. 4 Duke, in its 2016 season opener, Easley mentored her first NCAA Division I national scoring leader in senior attacker Loren Day. Campbell tallied four-straight wins in the middle of April before finishing with a 5-2 Big South record.
That mark earned the Camels the No. 3 seed in the Big South Championship, which came with the right to host the first ever postseason contest at Barker-Lane Stadium. In that quarterfinal matchup, CU defeated Longwood 14-5 for the program's first postseason victory.
After the win, Campbell advanced to its first ever Big South Championship semifinal. Easley led the Camels to a 10-9 overall record in 2016, the first winning campaign in the program's history and the highest single-season win total.
Four Campbell players earned All-Big South honors. Day became the first Camel to win the Big South Offensive Player of the Year award and became a two-time all-conference first team selection. Erica Hitch was the program's first Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year and became a two-time second-team honoree. Placek was the first Campbell freshman to earn second team honors. O'Hara was also named to the second team and became the first Camel to earn All-Big South recognition in three-straight seasons.
Additional postseason honors for the Camels included Hitch and Placek becoming the program's first Big South all-tournament team selections. A program-record 19 players were named to the Big South Presidential Honor Roll and Hitch, O'Hara and Hannah Lamb were named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll. Campbell was also named an IWLCA Academic Honor Squad for the second-straight season.
In 2015, her second season at the helm, Easley's Camels posted a 5-13 overall mark with a 2-5 Big South record. Four of Campbell's wins came at Barker-Lane Stadium and CU advanced to its second-straight Big South Championship.
Three Camels earned all-conference accolades led by Day, who was a first team selection. Hitch and O'Hara were named to the second team while O'Hara was named to the all-academic team as well. Campbell was selected as one of 85 Division I programs to be named an IWLCA Academic Honor Squad while Hitch and Lamb were named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
Easley led the Camels to a 7-9 mark in her first season at CU, going 2-5 in Big South play during the 2014 campaign. Campbell defended its home field with a 4-2 record at Barker-Lane Stadium.
Campbell made the Big South Championship for the first time under Easley, falling to Longwood in the quarterfinal round.
Five Camels were given all-conference honors, including seniors Taelar Errington and Cloey Henchcliffe on the second team and classmate Brittany Kincer on the all-academic team. Freshman O'Hara was named an all-conference honorable mention.
Easley was the head coach at Pfeiffer for five seasons before arriving at CU, leading the Falcons to a 58-31 overall record, and was seven wins shy of becoming the all-time leader in coaching wins. She was named Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year in 2010 and steered the Falcons to five winning seasons and a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2013, the first NCAA bid in program history.
Easley took over a program that went 6-7 in its inaugural season and was led by the senior trio of Errington, Henchcliffe, and Kincer. The Camels returned 12 players and welcomed 12 newcomers to Buies Creek in its second season.
A 2005 Pfeiffer graduate, Easley served as the Falcons' assistant coach from 2007-08 before taking the reigns as head coach. As a player, Easley twice served as the team's co-captain and received numerous accolades, including first team CVAC all-conference, first team all-region, second team Inside Lacrosse All-American, as well as first team Womenslacrosse.com All-American.
She finished her career at Pfeiffer fifth all-time in points (102), third in goals (78) and fourth in groundballs (149), while leading the Lady Falcons to back-to-back conference championships in '04 and '05.
In the summer of 2013, Easley competed in the FIL World Cup for the Haudenosaunee nation. She was named player of the game against Ireland with four goals and two draw controls. Easley led her team to a seventh-place finish and scored a goal in each of the team's first six contests. She finished the competition with 11 goals, two assists, five ground balls and 14 draw controls in eight games.
Easley received a BA in sports management from Pfeiffer with a minor in Business Administration in 2005. She obtained her Masters in Sports Management from the United Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama in 2007. She spent the 2005-06 school year teaching and coaching lacrosse at Ampleforth College in York, England.
Easley and her husband Joe, also a 2005 Pfeiffer graduate and four-year member of the basketball team, are parents to three children, son Caleb and daughters Korie and Ryleigh.
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