Ben Somera was hired in March of 2012 to takeover volleyball head coaching duties for Roger Williams University. In his first season with the Hawks the volleyball program earned the #1 seed in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament, won the CCC Conference Championship, and received the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The team finished 21-11 overall and 9-1 in the CCC. The 2012 squad led the conference in hitting percentage (.216) and kills (11.93) and had four team members receive All Conference Honors.
In 2013 Somera’s Hawks continued their growth posting a 31-4 overall record and .886 winning percentage (9th in the nation) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship Tournament for the first time. The 2013 squad was the first Commonwealth Coast Conference team to earn the top seed in the New England Region for the NCAA Championship Tournament. The Hawks led the Commonwealth Coast Conference statistics in; kill per set, hitting percentage, service aces, and points on their way to a fifth straight CCC Title and collected both the Player of the Year and Rookie of the year honors. Five Hawks made the All CCC Team, three athletes received American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All Region honors, and two players earned AVCA All Americans accolades. The 31 wins, .262 hitting percentage (11th in the nation), and 17.1 points per set are program best.  Somera also serves as the president of the New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA) an organization that provides support for volleyball coaches from the New England Region.
In 2014 the Hawks continued to impress, finishing with a 23-6 overall record and advancing to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Â Somera Received the CCC Coach of the Year and his athletes took home Player of the Year and Rookie of the Honors for the second straight season. The Hawks finished CCC conference regular season play a perfect 8-0 without dropping a single set to earn the top seed in the CCC Tournament. Â Somera is the only volleyball coach in RWU history to win 3 consecutive conference championships and the only coach who has won an NCAA Tournament match.
Before RWU Somera coached at the NCAA Division I level for more than fifteen years. Somera spent six years at the University of South Carolina, spending two seasons as the associate head coach before being promoted to the head coach. The 2008 Gamecocks made amazing strides under Somera's direction, finishing with the program's first 20-win season since 2002 with a 21-9 overall record. The squad led the SEC in a plethora of categories, including hitting percentage (.259), assists per set (12.66) and kills per set (13.71). South Carolina also ranked second in the league with 15.17 digs per set. The team also won 12 conference games for the first time in six season, going 12-8 during the double round-robin slate. That included eight home wins, with two coming in sweeps over NCAA Tournament teams Tennessee and LSU. The Gamecocks also downed rival and 2008 NCAA tourney participant Clemson in a five-set thriller at the Volleyball Competition Facility. The list of significant triumphs also includes a neutral-site win over Dayton, another NCAA Tournament participant. Under his tutelage, he developed the program's first and only All-American athlete, in addition to an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American. Three of his players have been recognized as AVCA All-District players, while one was named the 2009 Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Prior to his post at South Carolina, Somera spent six seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Oregon State University. While at Oregon State, Somera coached the middle blockers for four seasons and spent two with the setters. Under his tutelage, one of his setters earned honorable mention All-Pacific 10 honors and two of his middle blockers finished the season ranked among the top 10 blockers in the Pac-10 Conference. Two other Beavers earned honorable mention and one was named first-team All-Pac-10, while two student-athletes earned spots on the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team from 1999 to 2004. Additionally, seven Beavers received academic praise from CoSIDA and 16 were awarded academic laurels from the Pacific-10 Conference while Somera served as a coach.
Somera helped lead Oregon State to the NCAA Tournament in 2001 with a 17-12 record and fifth-place finish in the Pac-10. It was the first NCAA appearance for OSU since joining the Pac-10 in 1987 and only the second appearance in school history after first making the field in 1983. Oregon State finished at .500 or better in one of the toughest volleyball conferences in the country in three of Somera's six seasons on staff. Academically, Oregon State's volleyball program led the athletic department in team GPA for 9-of-15 terms.
Somera's collegiate coaching experience began at the University of Southern California in 1993 as a volunteer coach under AVCA Hall of Fame Inductee, Lisa Love. He was then promoted to second assistant in 1994 and took the lead in the training and development of the program's middle blockers. While at Southern California, he cultivated three All-Americans at the middle blocker position in three seasons.
Somera hails from La Crescenta, Calif., and earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Southern California. He is married to Nancy Somera (Hillman) and the couple has two children: son, Sam (18), and daughter, Maile (14).
