Coaching Staff

John Tom, Head Coach
(570) 372-4080 - tom@susqu.edu

John “Kuuipo” Tom enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Susquehanna University women's volleyball team in 2008.

Tom guided the team to consecutive 20-win seasons from 2004 to 2005, just the second time in program history that Susquehanna had won 20 or more games in back-to-back years.

In his first season in 2003, Tom led the Crusaders to a 15-13 record and fourth place in the Middle Atlantic Commonwealth Conference. He followed that up in 2004 by leading the Crusaders to a 21-11 record and a berth in the Commonwealth Conference championship match against eventual NCAA Division III champion Juniata College.

Tom graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in 1982 and retired in 2007 after a 25-year career in law enforcement as a sergeant and station commander for the PA State Police, Selinsgrove. During the summer months, Tom works nationally at high school volleyball camps and clinics for Gold Medal Squared Volleyball.

He was a longtime player and coach for USA Volleyball and is the founder of the Danville Area Community Center leagues where he also served as director from 1989 to 1998. He and his coaching staff continue to compete regularly in area league and tournament play.

Tom and his wife, Lou Ann, reside in Watsontown, Pa., and are the parents of two sons and two daughters and the grandparents of one child.

Alison Messner, Assistant Coach

Alison Messner joins the Crusaders for her first season in 2008. Messner graduated from Lebanon Valley College in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology. She was a four-year member of Lebanon Valley's women's volleyball team.

Messner currently resides in Cogan Station, Pa., with her husband, Mark, and works as a supports coordinator for United Disabilities Services.

Dan Sigafoos, Assistant Coach

Dan Sigafoos begins his fifth season as an assistant coach of the women's volleyball team in 2008. Sigafoos is a graduate of Northampton High School and a 1998 graduate of Lebanon Valley College where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.

A current resident of Sunbury, Sigafoos is active in local league and tournament volleyball and is employed by Cherokee Pharmaceuticals in Danville, Pa.

Patrick Beaver, Assistant Coach

Patrick Beaver enters his third season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Crusaders in 2008. Beaver focuses on the team's strength & conditioning.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in administration of justice from Penn State in 1998 and is a 1999 graduate of the Pennsylvania State Police Academy. He is currently in the criminal investigation unit for the Pennsylvania State Police - Troop F (Milton).

He is very active in local volleyball leagues and tournaments.