Benavia Jenkins joined USF Athletics in March 2016 and completed her third season as the volleyball team's assistant coach.
Jenkins was inducted into the Florida Gators Hall of Fame on Sept. 15, 2017 following a standout four-year career. Her coaching acumen and impact is heading down a similar path. Assisting with the middles and outsides, redshirt senior middle blocker Clara Payne finished with a .293 hitting percentage in 2018, and sophomore middle blocker Jaeden Brown posted a .277 hitting efficiency. Payne was named to the All-American Athletic Conference second team and Brown was second in the league with 146 blocks. Jenkins also helped with the emergence of junior transfer outside hitter Jac'cara Walker, who finished fourth in the conference with 394 kills and was named first team all-conference.
In her second year with the Bulls, Jenkins guided middle blockers Clara Payne (.289) and Joli Holland (.284) to top-10 hitting percentages in The American. Jenkins also furthered the development of freshman outside hitter Doris Carter, who led the Bulls with 255 kills and finished second among league rookies with 2.71 kills per set.
In 2016, Jenkins coached USF to a .235 hitting percentage, fifth best in The American. Her guidance was also helpful in getting both Joli Holland (.337) and Clara Payne (.321) to finish top 10 in The American in hitting percentage. Under Benavia's tutelage, Payne also finished the season third in blocks per set (1.06).
Benavia comes to USF from Coastal Carolina, where she was also an assistant coach. In 2015, she guided the Chanticleers to the ninth-best hitting percentage in the county (.287). Benavia was also instrumental in working with Eszter Nagy, whose .417 hitting percentage was 12th in the nation, and Annayka Legros, who placed 55th in the country with a .364 hitting percentage.
Prior to Coastal Carolina, Benavia was an assistant coach at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fla. In 2014, she led the Saints to a 31-7 season in their first year of competition and co-champions of the Mid-Florida Conference.
Benavia was also the head coach of Lincoln Park Academy (2010-12) and founder of the A-Vaneb Volleyball Academy in Fort Pierce, Fla.
As a player, Benavia piloted the Florida Gators to four Southeastern Conference Championships (2000-03), and was twice selected as an All-American (2002, 03). She notably played on four NCAA Tournament teams, two Final Four squads and appeared in the national championship (2003). Benavia set the school record for blocks (601) and was the first Gator to post 1,000 kills and 600 blocks.
Additionally, she played professional volleyball from 2005-2014. After graduating from Florida in 2004, Benavia competed professionally for teams in Spain (2005-06, 08-10), Austria (06-07), Turkey (07-08), Switzerland (12-14) and Florida (12-14). Her accomplishments include winning the Austria Cup with Vienna (06-07), being a Swiss Cup finalist for Koniz (2007), and finishing in the top 10 in Spain for blocking and attacking (09-10).
