Men's Division I-II National Coach of the Year

Bill Ferguson - University of Southern California
2009 AVCA Division I-II Men's National Coach of the Year

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 27, 2009) - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is proud to announce that University of Southern California head men's volleyball coach Bill Ferguson has been selected as the 2009 AVCA Division I-II Men's National Coach of the Year. In the 19-year history of the AVCA National Coach of the Year award, this is the first time Ferguson has been honored and also marks the first time the men's head coach from Southern California has received the award.

Ferguson led USC to its first appearance in the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship since 1991, behind a 21-11 record in 2009. The Trojans began the year hot, winning a pair of preseason tournaments, and ended the campaign in the same fashion. After securing its best regular-season finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (13-9) since 2000, USC set off as the MPSF Tournament's No. 5 seed, where it knocked off rival Stanford University in the quarterfinals in five sets. The Trojans continued with a shocking semifinal sweep over No. 1 UC Irvine on the Anteaters' home court. Ferguson then guided his squad to its first-ever MPSF Tournament Championship with a grueling 3-2 victory over then-No. 2 Pepperdine University, a stark contrast to the team's eighth-place conference finish just one season ago.

USC's chase for the title was not over there. Ferguson went on to lead the third-seeded Trojans to a 3-1 triumph over defending national champion Penn State University in the semifinals of the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship. The youthful squad ended its run by dropping a hard-fought 3-2 heartbreaker to top-ranked UC Irvine in the national title match.

USC finished the season as the No. 2 ranked team in the Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, its highest national ranking since the 2000 season. The Trojans spent every week of the 2009 campaign ranked in the top-10, earning a preseason rank of No. 7 and never dipping lower.

Having just completed his third season as head coach of USC, Ferguson now holds an overall mark of 46-43 as mentor of the Trojans.

Ferguson will be formally presented the AVCA Division I-II National Coach of the Year award on December 17 in Tampa, Fla., at the 2009 jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 2009 AVCA Annual Convention.

AVCA Division I-II National Coach of the Year (prior to 2004, all Divisions competed for this honor)

2009: Bill Ferguson, Southern California

2008: Mark Pavlik, Penn State

2007: Arnie Ball, IPFW

2006: John Speraw, UC Irvine

2005: Marv Dunphy, Pepperdine

2004: Alan Knipe, Long Beach State

2003: Dave Deuser, Lewis

2002: Mike Wilton, Hawai'i

2001: Carl McGown, BYU

2000: Peter Hanson, Ohio State

1999: Carl McGown, BYU