2007 AVCA Division II Region Coaches of the Year

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LEXINGTON, Ky. - The following coaches have been selected by their region as the 2007 AVCA Division II Regional Coach of the Year. Each of the honorees will represent their region on the 2007 AVCA National Coach of the Year ballot. The awards will be officially presented at the 2007 Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Sacramento, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 13, at the 2007 American Volleyball Coaches Association Annual Convention.
 

AVCA Division II Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
Melissa Myers, California University of Pennsylvania

2007 Record: 35-3, 10-3 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference

In her sixth season as head coach of California University of Pennsylvania (California, Pa.), Melissa Myers has led her Vulcan team to a 35-3 record and the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship.  After losing three of their first four matches of the season, Cal has won a school record 34 consecutive matches, and is one win away from tying the school record for wins in a season.  The 2007 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champions went 10-0 during the conference season to win the west division, then went on to win the PSAC Tournament.  The Vulcans, rated No. 1 in the Atlantic region throughout the season, were rewarded with the number one seed in the Atlantic regional of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, where they advanced to the regional championship for the third time in four years.  Myers, already the winningest coach in Cal volleyball history, is now 161-48 as Vulcan head coach.  This is the third time she has won the AVCA Division II Atlantic Region Coach of the Year award, winning also in 2004 and 2005.

AVCA Division II Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year
Deanne Scanlon, Grand Valley State University

2007 Record: 33-3, 17-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

In her 13th season as head coach, Deanne Scanlon has led Grand Valley State University (Allendale, Mich.) to a 33-3 overall record and a trip to the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals.  The Lakers began the preseason as the No. 11 team in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll and have steadily risen up the ranks, where they now find themselves at No. 5. GVSU, under Scanlon’s guidance, amassed a 17-1 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) this season, capturing the conference title along the way. After ending 2006 with a 27-4 record and a No. 13 final national ranking, Scanlon has her squad right back in the hunt for its second national title in three years.  The Lakers will face off against West Texas A&M University on Thursday, November 29, in Topeka, Kan., in the national quarterfinals.  For her career, the veteran mentor has compiled a 351-97 record and has led her teams to nine consecutive 20-plus win seasons, and five seasons with 30 or more victories. This is the fifth time that Scanlon has won the AVCA Division II Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year award, with the last being in 2005, the season in which she was also named the AVCA National Coach of the Year.

AVCA Division II North Central Region Coach of the Year
Brady Starkey, Concordia University-St. Paul

2007 Record: 33-4, 17-1 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference

Brady Starkey has led his Concordia University-St. Paul (St. Paul, Minn.) team to the round of eight in the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championships for the third time in the last five years.  Returning only six players from last year’s squad, the Golden Bears won their fifth consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title this year, going 17-1 in the league.  Winners of 19 of its last 21, Concordia-St. Paul enters the national quarterfinals with a 33-4 record, and a No. 2 ranking in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll.  This his fifth season at the helm of the Golden Bears, Starkey is the winningest coach in the program’s history, and his teams own the top five seasons in school history, winning nearly 90 percent of their matches and more than 30 matches a season now for five consecutive years.  Now 163-19 as CSP head coach, Starkey has won the AVCA Division II North Central Region Coach of the Year honor three times in five years, taking home the honor in 2003 and 2005.

AVCA Division II Northeast Region Coach of the Year
Alex Koszalka, Dowling College

2007 Record: 39-7, 9-0 East Coast Conference

Alex Koszalka’s eighth season at the helm of the Dowling College (Oakdale, N.Y.) Golden Lions has been one of his most successful to date.  After losing the first six matches of the season, and seven of their first nine, Dowling is now riding a 37-match win streak leading into their third consecutive appearance in the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship.  Undefeated champions of the East Coast Conference, Dowling has been rated the No. 1 team in the Northeast Region of Division II throughout the season.  Koszalka won career match number 200 during the season, and the team’s 39 wins is the most in his tenure with the Golden Lions.  Koszalka now holds an overall record of 234-83 as Dowling head coach.  This is Koszalka’s second AVCA Division II Northeast Region Coach of the Year honor, also taking home the award in 2005.

AVCA Division II Pacific Region Coach of the Year
Diane Flick, Western Washington University

2007 Record: 24-4, 17-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference

While only returning two starters and its libero from the 2006 campaign that saw Western Washington University (Bellingham, Wash.) rattle off an18-7 record, eighth-year head coach Diane Flick pulled her troops together for what has proved to be a storybook 2007 season thus far. The Vikings have run off an impressive 24-4 record to date, including a 17-1 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) action, while capturing their fourth conference title, the first since 2003.  Western Washington, under the guidance of Flick, ended 2007 as the No. 2 ranked team in the West region, but proved the doubters wrong by knocking off national power and then-No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino to win its first regional title and earn its first-ever trip to the national quarterfinals.  In addition, the Vikings have won over the respect of the poll voters, as Western Washington moved into the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll late in the season, where it landed at No. 23.  The Vikings will meet up with Dowling College on Thursday, November 29 at the NCAA Division II Championship. As it stands, Flick has chalked up a 176-46 record at the Vikings’ helm and is the program’s all-time wins leader. This is the second time Flick has won the AVCA Division II West Region Coach of the Year award, with the first coming in 2002.

AVCA Division II South Region Coach of the Year
Chris Catanach, University of Tampa

2007 Record: 31-2, 15-1 Sunshine State Conference

Chris Catanach, in his 24th year at the University of Tampa (Tampa, Fla.), guided the Spartans their second-consecutive Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Championship in 2007, marking the 17th time that Tampa has won at least a share of the conference title, which is an SSC record for volleyball. After capturing the 2006 NCAA Division II national championship, the Spartans have been ranked No. 1 a total of nine times on CSTV/AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll this season, coming in at No. 2 the remaining four weeks. The Spartans won the South Region of the NCAA Division II Tournament, and will make their tenth trek to the national quarterfinals under their veteran mentor, who is seeking national title number two.  The Spartans will square off with host Washburn University on Thursday, November 29 in Topeka, Kan.  Catanach is now 749-145 through his storied career at Tampa.  This is the eleventh time he has won the AVCA Division II South Region Coach of the Year honor.

AVCA Division II South Central Region Coach of the Year
Chris Herron, Washburn University

2007 Record: 37-3, 12-1 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

In his sixth season as the head coach of Washburn University (Topeka, Kan.), Chris Herron has built a volleyball powerhouse at the Midwest institution. Washburn began the season as the preseason No. 8 team in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 poll, but has steadily risen throughout the weeks to reach as high as No. 4, the best ranking in program history.  In 2007, Herron has guided the Lady Blues to a 37-3 record, along with a 12-1 mark in the West division of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), marking the first time the Lady Blues have gone through the season without a loss to either Truman or Central Missouri. After ending the 2006 campaign with a 27-9 overall record and a No. 23 final national ranking, Herron has led Washburn to its first regional championship, becoming the program’s all-time winningest coach along the way.  The Lady Blues earned the right to host the 2007 Division II National Championships and will face off against defending national champion Tampa on Thursday, November 29. This honor marks the first AVCA Division II South Central Region Coach of the Year award for Herron.

AVCA Division II Southwest Region Coach of the Year
Tony Graystone, West Texas A&M University

2007 Record: 35-7, 10-0 Lone Star Conference

In his ninth season as the head coach of West Texas A&M University (Canyon, Texas), Tony Graystone has established a name for the Lady Buffs as one of the premier volleyball programs in NCAA Division II. WTAMU began the 2007 season as the preseason No. 21 team in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 poll, but has since powered its way up the chart to reach as high as No. 8.  Graystone has led the Lady Buffs to a 35-7 record thus far in the season, including a perfect 12-0 mark in the Lone Star Conference, locking up a conference title along the way. WTAMU upended No. 1 seed Nebraska-Kearney to capture the Southwest Regional championship and earn its 10th national quarterfinal appearance, where it will face Grand Valley State University on Thursday, November 29.  Last season the veteran mentor guided his squad to a 34-4 overall record and a final national ranking of No. 11. During his career, Graystone has established a 280-55 overall record, becoming the program’s all-time wins leader, and also becoming the fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 100 victories. This honor marks the second consecutive and fourth overall AVCA Division II Southwest Region Coach of the Year award for Graystone.