1997 Tachikara/AVCA JC/CC Region Coaches of the Year

Sue Sinclair, Illinois Central College
Sinclair guided the Cougars (53-8) to their fifth NJCAA tournament appearance in her eight years at Illinois Central.  The Cougars claimed five tournament titles this season including the Region 24 title.  Several of Sinclair's players have earned AVCA All-America honors in the last eight seasons.  This season Sinclair recorded her 300th career victory, improving her overall record to 323-107.

Jeff Weathers, Elgin Community College
Weathers helped Elgin to a fifth place finish in the NJCAA tournament after upsetting Barton County and Illinois Central to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

Northeast-Southeast Region Coaches of the Year

Ilida Medero, Miami-Dade Community College
Medero led the Falcons to the NJCAA championship match for the fifth time in school history.  Miami-Dade posted wins over Sheridan, Kirkwood and Barton County to improve its NJCAA tournament record to 29-7.

Marlys Palmer, Hagerstown Junior College
After a slow start, the Hawks rebounded to advance to their eighth NJCAA tournament appearance and Region 20 title.  Palmer has accumulated a 570-131 overall record in 18 seasons at Hagerstown.  The Hawks (30-11) earned their first-ever victory over a higher-ranked opponent at the NJCAA tournament, when they defeated Northwest Shoals CC.

Southwest Region Coaches of the Year

Sheryl Nobley, Glendale Community College
Nobley led the Gauchos (44-8) to the quarterfinals of the NJCAA tournament for the second consecutive season, before falling to eventual champion College of Southern Idaho.   This season, Glendale won the Yavapai (9-0), San Diego Mesa (7-0) and Region 1 tournaments (3-0).  Nobley has coached an AVCA All-American in each of the last three seasons.

Donna Prindle, Long Beach City College
Prindle has led the Vikings to a 60-9 overall record in the last three seasons, including two South Coast Conference championships.  This season, Long Beach finished 19-4 overall and fifth in the state tournament.  In her 15-year coaching career at Long Beach, Prindle has posted a 190-90 overall record.

West Region Coaches of the Year

Sue Pollart, Northeastern Junior College
Pollart helped the Plainswomen hold down a top 15 spot in the NJCAA national poll for the majority of the season.  Northeastern earned victories over Sheridan and Eastern Wyoming to cap off the year 47-8.  The Plainswomen claimed the South-Sub Region title for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.

Ben Stroud, College of Southern Idaho
Stroud led the Golden Eagles (61-1) to their fifth consecutive national championship dropping just two games in the process.  The College of Southern Idaho held down the top spot in the AVCA/JC Coaches Top 20 poll for the entire season.  The Golden Eagles brought their winning streak to 190 consecutive matches this season, after posting perfect records of 65-0 and 60-0 the last two seasons.