Lebanon Valley College Athletics

Amy Sokaitis enters her seventh season at the helm of Lebanon Valley College's women's basketball program in 2020-21.

In 2019-20, the Dutchmen finished 9-16, narrowly missing a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament. Emily Mealey had one of the best seasons in recent history under Sokaitis, leading her to a spot on the All-MAC First Team.  

In 2018-19, Sokaitis led the Dutchmen back to the MAC Commonwealth Tournament, where LVC won the Play-In Game to reach the Semifinal round. Also, Anne Lehr was named to the All-Conference Second Team, while Emily Mealey garnered Honorable Mention.

Sokaitis guided the Dutchmen to the MAC Commonwealth Tournament Play-In game in 2017-18, as well as the second round of the ECAC Tournament. Additionally, Sokaitis led Mealey to a dominant first season, as she was named the MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year.

In the 2016-17 campaign, Sokaitis led LVC to yet-another MAC Commonwealth Tournament appearance and a 9-7 conference record in the regular season. Sokaitis guided two of her players to the All-Conference Team, Hilary Yoh (First Team) and Lexie Lantz (Honorable Mention). 

In her second season, Coach Sokaitis led the Dutchmen to a 10-6 conference record landing them in fourth place entering the MAC Commonwealth Championship tournament. Despite falling short to Albright in the tournament semifinal, the Valley had several noteworthy accomplishments. An impressive win over No. 14 ranked FDU-Florham made them the Rinso Marquette Tournament champion. During the winter break, the team travelled to Puerto Rico and beat the No. 9 nationally ranked Montclair State University before losing a tight game with Simpson College.

Assistant Coach Kiely Chaklos reached the 1000 career point milestone after returning from a season ending injury last season. Chaklos is just the 12th player in LVC women’s basketball history to score 1,000 points or more for a career. Senior Taylor Umbrell joined Chaklos on the MAC Commonwealth Second-Team, while junior Lexie Lantz received honorable mention recognition.

In her first season at the helm, Sokaitis guided the Dutchmen to their sixth consecutive season with 20 or more wins, posting a 21-9 overall mark that included a trip to the Commonwealth Conference Semifinal where LVC was edged by Stevenson 68-64. In the ECAC Tournament, after defeating Delaware Valley 71-52 in the opener, LVC outlasted W&J 63-57 in the semifinal before crushing Albright 81-58 to take the ECAC Title where Taylor Umbrell was named the most outstanding player. In addition, Umbrell was named to the MAC Commonwealth Second-Team, while her teammate Bridget Rothert landed on the First Team. 

Sokaitis arrived in Annville from NCAA Division II program Southern Connecticut State University, where she spent three years as the top assistant coach. She is Lebanon Valley College’s 11th head coach in the NCAA Division III era.

At Southern Connecticut, she helped the Owls make the NCAA Tournament in 2011-12 and make frequent appearances in the national polls. In 2013-14, SCSU had three All-Northeast 10 selections, and Sokaitis helped recruit and coach the 2013 NE-10 Rookie of the Year. In 2014, eight of SCSU’s 10 players made the Northeast-10 Academic Honor Roll as the team recorded a 3.36 GPA. The Owls were very active in the community during Sokaitis’ tenure, working frequently in academic outreach at local elementary schools and with charities such as the American Heart Association and the Boys and Girls Club.

Sokaitis began her coaching career as an assistant at Yale University, where she spent two seasons. She helped the Bulldogs qualify for the 2011 WNIT Tournament, their first WNIT berth and first postseason appearance of any kind in 32 years. That season included another first as Yale knocked off a nationally-ranked opponent in Florida State.

A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Sokaitis starred at point guard for Monroe Catholic, helping lead the Rams to a pair of state titles and four regional crowns. She played her collegiate ball at NCAA Division II Western State in Colorado. Coaching runs in her family – her father, Al, is the head men’s coach at Post University in Connecticut and has had a long and successful career at Western State, Alaska Fairbanks, Southern Maine, and North Adams State.

Since 2005, she has remained active in her home state as a clinician with the Challenge Life Youth Foundation, operating camps and clinics throughout the Arctic Slope of Alaska. The foundation promotes athletic participation and healthy lifestyle lessons to the region’s youth, working with communities and schools to mentor students to increase graduation rates and college attendance.

Sokaitis earned her bachelor’s degree in sports management from Western State in 2009 and a master’s degree in Management of Sports Industries from the University of New Haven in 2011.
 

Sokaitis File

	Overall			MACC
Year	Won	Loss	Pct.	Won	Loss	Pct.	Accolades
2014-15	21	9	.700	8	8	.500	MACC Semifinal / ECAC South Champs
2015-16	17	10	.630	10	6	.626	MACC Semifinal
2016-17	12	14	.462	9	7	.563	MACC Play-In Game
2017-18	15	13	.536	9	7	.563	MACC Play-In Game / ECAC Second Round
2018-19	14	13	.519	9	7	.563	MACC Semifinal
2019-20	9	16	.360	4	12	.250
2020-21	3	8	.273	3	7	.300
7 Seasons	91	83	.523	52	54	.491