Volleyball

Coaching carousel; AVCA; men’s update; International Volleyball Hall eyes new home

February 7, 2024

**Ohio State’s Thomas Poole passes against Lindenwood/Ohio State photo**

The NCAA Division I women’s volleyball coaching carousel did some serious spinning Tuesday, considering it’s February; the NCAA men’s schedule has a few key matches on tap for Wednesday; the AVCA top 25 looks a lot like last week’s AVCA top 25; and the International Volleyball Hall of Fame looks at huge move in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Coaching carousel

The long-standing vacancy in Evanston, Illinois, has finally been filled. Northwestern hired Grand Canyon coach Tim Nollan to take over the role vacated by Shane Davis, who resigned on December 1 after eight seasons.

Nollan, a former USC assistant for eight seasons with Mick Haley, has been the head coach at Grand Canyon in Arizona the past eight years. This past season, Grand Canyon finished 23-8, 13-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, which included the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Jeff Liu will serve as the interim head coach at GCU.

Northwestern finished 15-15 last season, 9-11 in the Big Ten. Northwestern has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2010 …

Miami, Ohio, has hired Dan Gwitt to replace Carolyn Condit, who retired after 40 seasons. Gwitt was an assistant the past two seasons at Penn State, his alma mater, after four seasons as an assistant at Indiana. He also was the head coach at 24 at Centenary in 2007, which was then in Division I. He takes over a program that finished 5-25 last season, 1-17 in the Mid-American Conference. Miami has been to the NCAA Tournament 10 times, the last in 2016 and 2017 …

Long Beach State has a surprise opening. Tyler Hildebrand, the head coach there the past two seasons, will become an assistant to Brad Keller at USC. Hildebrand, who played at Long Beach State and also professionally on the beach, was an LBSU assistant coach for the men and had two stints at Nebraska, including when the Huskers won the 2017 NCAA women’s title. USC finished 19-13 last season, 12-8 in the Pac-12 and lost to Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. USC moves to the Big Ten next season …

Jackson State promoted Marcus Hereford to head coach at his alma mater, which finished 17-13 overall, 10-6 in the SWAC last season, losing to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Hereford replaces Rose Washington, the 2023 SWAC coach of the year who retired after 22 seasons.

AVCA poll, POW

The top three teams — Long Beach State, Grand Canyon and Hawai’i — stayed the same. Long Beach got all 23 first-place votes. UCLA moved up a spot to No. 4, tradiing places with Stanford.

The biggest jump was by Princeton, up six spots to No. 10. Ball State is up four notches to No. 11. UC Santa Barbara dropped from 12th to No. 17. Lincoln Memorial, which won its only match, dropped out, and Purdue Fort Wayne, which upset Penn State, moved in at No. 20. PFW was then swept by Loyola Chicago on Tuesday.

Click here for the complete AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll.

Also, the AVCA national player of the week is UCLA sophomore Cooper Robinson. The outside hitter had 23 kills in a five-set win over UC Irvine and then 22 more two days later in a four-set victory over UCI, hitting .427 for the two matches. He also had averaged a block per set.

NCAA men

The spotlight is on Honolulu on Wednesday when No. 3 Hawai’i of the Big West plays host to No. 5 Stanford of the MPSF. They play again Friday. There’s another Big West-MPSF match when No. 7 UC Irvine plays host to No. 15 USC.

There’s a key MIVA match when No. 6 Ohio State goes to No. 14 Lewis. The MIVA’s Lindenwood is at independent Missouri S&T, the Big West’s CSUN is home for UC Merced and the ECC’s American International plays DIII Rivier.

If a match is being shown, we have the viewing link in our VolleyballMag TV & Streaming Listings.

There were five matches Sunday, including Ohio State (7-2) opening MIVA play by beating visiting Lindenwood (2-6, 0-2) in a tough four. Four Buckeyes had 10 or more kills in the 30-32, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18 victory, 12 by Daniel Hurley, who had an ace and six digs. AJ Lewis had 18 kills and hit .571 for Lindenwood to go with an assist, three aces, two digs and three blocks, one solo … Hawai’i (8-1) notched its second straight sweep of visiting independent Tusculum (1-8) as the Rainbow Warriors hit .549 in the 25-15, 25-11, 25-7 blasting. Keoni Thiim had 14 kills with one error in 18 attacks, two aces, three digs and four blocks … The EIVA’s NJIT (7-4) swept visiting Merrimack (2-5) of the NEC as Antonio Feliciano led with 11 kills, two assists, an ace, four digs and two blocks … the NEC’s Daemen (4-2) swept the ECC’s American International (1-5) by hitting .435 as nine players had kills … the SIAC’s Fort Valley State swept visiting Life …

There were no matches Monday, but Tuesday Conference Carolinas had two conference-opening matches as Erskine (5-3,1-0) beat Emmanuel (1-6, 0-1) in four and North Greenville (2-3, 1-0) did the same to Belmont Abbey (4-2, 0-1). Erkine got 18 kills each from Edgerrin Austin and Kacper Rybarczyk, who hit .471 and had five of his team’s seven aces, a block and eight digs. Emmanuel’s Eli Zdonek had 19 kills, two assists and four digs. Nicklas Eichenberger had 15 digs and four assists. North Greenville’s Diego Rosich had 13 kills, hit .323, and had an assist, two aces and four digs. Mark Autry, Michael de la Cruz and Logan Keothavy had nine kills each …

In the MIVA, No. 13 Loyola Chicago (6-6, 1-1) won 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 at Purdue Fort Wayne (6-4, 0-1) as the Ramblers hit .449. Jake Read led with 16 kills, hitting .600 after having one error in 25 attacks to go with an assist, two aces and six digs. Parker Van Buren had 10 kills with one error in 19 swings, no aces but five serving errors, a block and five digs. PFW’s Jon Diedrich had 11 kills in 23 errorless attacks …

Sacred Heart (3-6) of the NEC hit .403 and swept visiting Dominican (2-6) of the ECC. Patrick Mucherino had 10 kills and Carlos Santa Cruz nine. They each had three blocks … Missouri Baptist beat Maryville in four and Fort Valley State (3-3) won again, this time sweeping Talledega.

Holyoke sports complex

The International Volleyball Hall of Fame, currently located in downtown Holyoke will get a new home in a new sports complex in the western Massachusetts city.

The news release from the city after a news conference Tuesday:

The city of Holyoke is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking initiative to construct a state-of-the-art sports complex, set to become the new home for the prestigious International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Spearheaded by Mayor Joshua A. Garcia and local entrepreneur Cesar Ruiz, leader of the USA International Sport Complex Group, this venture seeks to bolster Holyoke’s status as the birthplace of volleyball and a hub for global sports development.

This ambitious project aims to capitalize on Holyoke’s rich history in volleyball and propel its worldwide expansion.

The International Volleyball Hall of Fame, currently home to over 160 inductees from 25 countries, attracts enthusiasts from across the globe. Since its inauguration in 1987, the Hall of Fame has celebrated volleyball’s elite through its annual induction ceremony, a tradition cherished by sports enthusiasts worldwide.

Holyoke’s association with volleyball dates back to 1895 when William G. Morgan, then the physical director of Holyoke YMCA, conceived the sport’s concept and rules. His visionary contributions earned him the distinction of being the inaugural inductee into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1985.

The proposed sports complex is poised to revolutionize Holyoke’s sports landscape, hosting over 30 events and tournaments annually. With an anticipated economic impact of $41 million, the complex promises to invigorate the local economy and provide unparalleled recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike.

Key features of the indoor complex include: