DURHAM, N.C. - Following helping lead the Duke women's soccer team to the NCAA College Cup in 2011, Blue Devil associate head coach Billy Lesesne has been named the NSCAA South Region Assistant Coach of the Year.  The NSCAA recognized Lesesne for his contributions to the Blue Devils and the community.

Lesesne, who just completed his 11th season with the Blue Devils, has helped guide Duke to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the NCAA quarterfinals in 2007 and 2008 as well as the NCAA College Cup in 2011. 

The collegiate award has undergone expansion this year with the addition of separate categories for assistant coaches of men's and women's teams and a new award for coaches at the junior college level. The regional recipients are comprise the field of finalists for the National Assistant Coach of the Year awards, which will be announced at the annual NSCAA Awards Banquet, to be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center on Friday evening, Jan. 13, in conjunction with the 2012 NSCAA Convention.

The Blue Devils are coming off their first NCAA College Cup appearance since 1992, before falling in the title match to top-ranked Stanford, 1-0.  Duke registered a school-record 22 victories and only the second Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season title in school history with a school-record eight league wins.

Lesesne is a 1987 graduate of Erskine College where he was a NAIA All-America as a senior.  Prior to his arrival at Duke, he spent one season as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt and six years as the head coach of the men's and women's soccer programs at his alma mater, Erskine. 

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