Bemidji State names Johnson interim women's volleyball coach
Bemidji State turned to Hahni Johnson to steady its volleyball program after Erika Bute left for Augustana University. The move came about 60 days before the season opener.
Bemidji State University turned to Hahni Johnson on July 1, naming her interim head coach of the Beaver volleyball program after Erika Bute resigned and left the team without a head coach about 60 days before the first match of the season. Athletics director Britt Lauritsen announced the move as the program headed into fall practices and a late-summer transition.
Lauritsen said Johnson was a “natural successor” because she already knew the roster, the recruiting board and the day-to-day demands of the job. That familiarity matters for a program that has to keep current players, incoming recruits and support staff aligned while the staff change lands just before the season starts.
Bute’s departure closed a brief but layered stint in Bemidji. She resigned June 29 to take the head-coaching job at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, her alma mater. Bute had been named Bemidji State’s 15th head coach in February 2025 and spent one season in charge after serving as an assistant coach in 2024. She had also moved into the interim head-coach role for the final seven matches of that season, giving her a hand in guiding the program through two different coaching setups before her exit.
Johnson arrived at Bemidji State as an assistant coach in 2025 and now inherits a roster that must settle quickly with the first game approaching. Before coming to Bemidji, she worked as a graduate assistant for the Colorado Mesa University beach volleyball program, where she handled recruiting, travel logistics, development and practice planning. Those duties lined up closely with the work that now falls to her in Bemidji, where recruiting relationships and practice structure will be among the first priorities.
Bemidji State’s staff directory now lists Johnson as interim head coach, signaling that the university sees her as the bridge into the coming season while the program regroups after Bute’s departure. For a team built on continuity as much as results, the timing of the change leaves little room for drift.
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