LMU beach volleyball and Head Coach John Mayer have announced the addition of former AVP professional Angela “Benny” White as the program’s assistant coach ahead of the 2024 season. The 2026 season will be White’s third at LMU. Following her role leading the Lions to the NCAA National Championship Game in 2025, White has added the responsibilities of Recruiting Coordinator
In 2025, LMU won a school-record 38 duals, including defeating 12 opponents ranked in the top-10 and multiple wins over #1 ranked opponents. In the NCAA Championships, LMU opened with a 3-0 sweep over #13 FAU before putting together one of the most impressive single days in program history. On Saturday, May 3, 2025, LMU knocked off four-time defending national champions USC, 3-1, to advance to that afternoon’s semifinals. The Lions then took down top-seeded #1 UCLA in a reverse sweep in the semifinals to advance to the Sunday’s championship dual. In the national title game, LMU and TCU split courts two through five to set up championship point in the third set of Court 1, before the Horned Frogs eventually ended LMU’s season. White helped mentor Michelle Shaffer and Chloe Hooker to AVCA Second Team All-American recognition, as well as AVCA Top Flight Pairs on four different courts with Flight 2 (Anna Pelloia and Chloe Hooker), Flight 3 (Abbey Thorup and Lisa Luini), Flight 4 (Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch), and Flight 5 (Tanon Rosenthal and Giuliana Poletti Corrales) all winning over 75% of their matches on those courts. The WCC Awards continued as LMU earned the WCC Pair of the Year, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, and the WCC Co-Freshman of the Year, along with seven First Team All-WCC and three Second Team All-WCC selections.
In 2024, White helped lead the Lions to the 2024 NCAA Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama and finish the year ranked eighth in the final AVCA Beach Volleyball poll. The Lions won a game at the NCAA Championships, defeating #9 Hawaii, 3-1. White helped coach two AVCA First Team All-Americans, the WCC Pair of the Year, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, four First Team All-WCC performers, and two Second Team All-WCC Performers.
“We are so excited to be adding Benny and her family to our LMU team,” said Mayer. “We feel that she is such a great fit because she is someone who is caring, fun to be around, and absolutely committed to learning.”
Born and raised in Plano, Texas, White played collegiately on the indoor team at LSU before starting her professional career both on the court and in the sand. Her stops as a professional player include playing indoor in Italy before transitioning to beach volleyball with the AVP and USA Volleyball.
Since 2020, White has served as Assistant Director of Silver Beach Volleyball Club in Austin, Texas where she was named 2022 AVCA Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year. Previous coaching experience includes time with East Coach Power in Philadelphia, Penn., The Winward School in Mar Vista, Calif., and Elite Beach Volleyball Club in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
“She was a high-level player on the AVP and someone who did it the right way as a both a hard worker and a great teammate,” said Mayer. “She’s always been great at bringing the best out of the people around her. We are excited to learn from her!”
Benny is married to former LSU track and field athlete Sadiki White. The couple has two sons Sadiki Jabari Jr. and Mehki.
