UCLA’s
Andy Banachowski Named
2006 Tachikara/AVCA Division I National Coach of the YearSM
OMAHA, Neb.
(Dec. 14, 2006) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), in
conjunction with Tachikara USA, Inc, is proud to announce that UCLA Head Women’s
Volleyball Coach Andy Banachowski has been selected as the 2006 Tachikara/AVCA
Division I National Coach of the YearSM.
Since
its first serve in 1965, UCLA has been one of the top women’s volleyball
programs in the country, and Banachowski has led the Bruins for all but two of
those seasons. This season, UCLA is 33-3 heading into the national semifinals
of the NCAA Division I Tournament, and a showdown with No. 1 Nebraska. The 33
wins are the most for the program since 1994 when they went 32-4 and reached the
NCAA Championship match.
Rated No. 10 in the preseason
CSTV/AVCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll, UCLA won their first 20 matches,
climbing to as high as No. 3 in the rankings. The Bruins went 15-3 in the
Pac-10, tying for second place in a conference that boasted five of the top
fifteen teams in the country this season, including three of the four teams in
the national semifinals. The second place conference finish is the best for the
program since 1999.
Banachowski, the all-time wins
leader in women’s NCAA Division I history, has now won 1,037 matches in his 40
seasons at UCLA, against only 269 losses, a .794 winning percentage. He has been involved in 12
volleyball National Championships at UCLA, including ten as a coach (six women's
and four men's titles), and two titles as a player for UCLA's men's team.
Banachowski has had three double title years, 1972, '74 and '75, as the Bruin
men's and women's teams both won the championship in those years.
Banachowski takes home his
second Tachikara/AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year honor, first winning
the award in 1989. He also won the first Tachikara/AVCA Division I Pacific
Region Coach of the Year honor of his career last week. Banachowski was named
Tachikara/AVCA Division I District Coach of the Year four times (1989, ’92, ’93
and ’98).
Tachikara formally presented the AVCA Division I
National Coach of the Year award to Andy Banachowski this afternoon in Omaha,
Neb. at the Tachikara/AVCA Coach of the Year and Victory Club AwardsSM
banquet. The banquet was held in conjunction with the 2006 AVCA Annual
Convention.
Since
its first serve in 1965, UCLA has been one of the top women’s volleyball
programs in the country, and Banachowski has led the Bruins for all but two of
those seasons. This season, UCLA is 33-3 heading into the national semifinals
of the NCAA Division I Tournament, and a showdown with No. 1 Nebraska. The 33
wins are the most for the program since 1994 when they went 32-4 and reached the
NCAA Championship match.
