Shippensburg University director of athletics Jeff Michaels has announced that Brooke DellaValle has been hired as the head lacrosse coach at Shippensburg University.
DellaValle arrives at Shippensburg after two successful seasons as the head coach at nearby Wilson College (NCAA Division III). Wilson reinstated women’s lacrosse as a sport in 2021, the year before DellaValle became head coach. She inherited a four-win team and guided the Phoenix to an 18-14 overall record in her two seasons.
This past season, Wilson posted a 12-5 record, reached the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship game, and had nine All-CSAC players. The Phoenix also had two players earn College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors.
DellaValle instructed an array of top performers including Jill Ahlgren, who led NCAA Division III in 2023 with 4.2 caused turnovers per game. Ahlgren ranked third in the nation with 6.3 groundballs per game and led the CSAC in goals (62), points (92), draw controls (130), caused turnovers (72) and groundballs (107). Goalkeeper Krystal Kienast ranked third in the nation with 6.54 goals-against average (GAA).
The Phoenix reached the CSAC Semifinals in DellaValle’s first season, winning four of six conference matches in 2022. In her two seasons at Wilson, her teams combined to post an 8-3 record in CSAC play.
Before her appointment as the head coach at Wilson, DellaValle spent four seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Shepherd. DellaValle’s coaching specialty is offense, and among the standout performers she mentored with the Rams include two-time Mountain East Conference (MEC) Offensive Player of the Year Lillian Funke. The Rams won two MEC titles with DellaValle on staff before transitioning to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in advance of the ill-fated 2020 season that was derailed by the pandemic.
As a student-athlete, DellaValle was a four-year letterwinner at Shepherd from 2014-17 who finished with 94 career goals and 112 career points. As a senior, DellaValle earned All-MEC First Team honors after ranking second on the Rams with 39 goals and 13 assists. She earned All-MEC honorable mention as a junior.
As a prep athlete, Hunley played at Linganore High School in Frederick County, Maryland. She was a four-year letterwinner in lacrosse and a three-year letterwinner in field hockey.
DellaValle also has experience on the club circuit, serving as the head coach of ThinkLax for the past four years.
A native of Frederick County in Maryland, DellaValle and her husband Tony are the proud parents of a newborn daughter, Summer. The family still resides in Frederick.
DellaValle earned her bachelor of science in therapeutic recreation from Shepherd in 2017 and her MBA (sports management concentration) from Shepherd in 2021.
