ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland volleyball head coach Rob Beam announced the addition of former A-10 Libero of the Year Bekah Strange to his staff. Strange will serve as a graduate assistant for the Golden Grizzlies. 
 
Strange joins the Oakland volleyball program after an impressive playing career at VCU, capped by an A-10 championship in 2017. Most recently on the collegiate level, she served as a volunteer assistant with Loyola Chicago.
 
"I am very excited to welcome Bekah to the Oakland Volleyball program. It was very clear throughout the hiring process that she is highly motivated and capable," Beam said. "Everyone I spoke to who has worked with her in either a student-athlete or coaching capacity had wonderful things to say about her. More over, in getting to know her she has the right personal values to both fit with and add to our culture. I believe our student-athletes will greatly benefit from her experience. She will have key roles in training our ball control players, recruiting, as well as in social media coordination, and travel logistics."
  
A four-year starter for the Rams, Strange punctuated her collegiate career with a decorated senior campaign. During the regular season, she earned "Best Libero" at the Texas A&M Invitational, won A-10 Defensive Player of the Week on four occasions and led the conference in digs per set (5.00) as VCU went undefeated in A-10 action. Ahead of the postseason, she was named Libero of the Year and All-Conference First Team. 
 
Continuing that momentum, the Rams powered past Rhode Island and defeated Dayton in five sets for their first A-10 title. Strange was instrumental across the two contests with 39 digs, eight assists and three aces en route to being named to the All-Tournament Team. She followed that up with AVCA All-East Region honors and finished her career with 1,812 digs (4.02 per set), both third most in VCU history.
 
Upon graduating in 2018, Strange maintained an assistant coaching position with Richmond Volleyball Club, then later with Division 1 Volleyball Club. Her first collegiate coaching experience came in August of 2019 when she took a volunteer position at Loyola where she helped in all aspects of logistics and operations. That season, the Ramblers finished 21-11 and 14-4 in conference play, earning a berth in the MVC Tournament.
 
Strange arrives at Oakland with a background in marketing and communications, carrying a B.S. in Mass Communications and having interned with VCU's sports marketing and athletic communications departments.