MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois women's basketball team and head coach JD Gravina welcome entirely new staff to join them in the 2019-20 season.  

INTRODUCING DAN CHAPLA| Chapla joined the Leathernecks in June of 2019 as associate head coach after 11 seasons at William Woods in Fulton, Mo., where he guided the program to unprecedented heights en route to the title of its all-time winningest coach. 

He came to William Woods from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., where he spent six years as the head women's basketball coach, and before that, he spent two seasons as the men's basketball assistant coach at his alma mater Ottawa University where he is also a 2014 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.

 A former First Team All-Conference and NAIA Honorable Mention NAIA All-American, Chapla was the team's starting point guard from 1989-1993, before graduating with a degree in political science. In May of 2002, he received a master's degree in physical education/sports administration from the University of Central Missouri.

Chapla is married to his wife Gara, and the two have a daughter, Ivy, and son, Luke.

INTRODUCING KENNEDY CATTENHEAD | Kennedy Cattenhead joined the Western Illinois women's basketball staff ahead of the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach.

A four-year standout at the University of Illinois, Cattenhead appeared in 112 games for the Illini with 74 starts. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native is a three-year captain, four-time All-Big Ten Academic honoree, and was also inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society. Cattenhead received her bachelor's degree in sports management, and a master's in higher education with a concentration on diversity and equity. 

She began her coaching career at Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo.

INTRODUCING ALEXA TOVELLA | Alexa Tovella joined the team for 2019-20 as an assistant coach after four seasons as the assistant coach at Wisconsin-Platteville in Platteville, Wisc., where she served as the acting head coach for the 2018-19 season, increasing the team's wins and leading the team to the conference tournament for the first time in four years.

Before Wisconsin-Platteville, Tovella was a graduate assistant coach at Edgewood College for three seasons, where she earned a master's in both leadership in athletic administration and principalship. 

Before Wisconsin- Platteville, she attended Barton College in Wilson, N.C., earning a degree in Health and Physical Education, where she was a three-sport student-athlete.

Catch all three new members of the WIU staff in action Tuesday (Nov. 5) night at 7 p.m. as the Leathernecks take on SEC's Mizzou for their season opener.