COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), in conjunction with Tachikara USA, Inc, is proud to announce that Kaddie Platt of Houston Baptist University has been selected as the 2002 AVCA/Tachikara NAIA National Coach of the Year.

Platt finished her eighth season as Houston Baptist’s head coach and led the Huskies to their fifth straight Red River Athletic Conference Championship. The Huskies finished 47-3, which set a school record for most wins and fewest defeats.  HBU finished as NAIA National runner-up and sixth in the final NAIA Top 25 poll.

Platt has led her squad to a 68-conference-match winning streak, going back four years. Houston Baptist started this season with a 19-match winning streak and swept 36 of their 47 victories. Platt holds a 196-74 record and became the winningest volleyball coach in Houston Baptist history after just two seasons.

In her first season as head coach, Platt led her 1995 squad to a perfect 10-0 record in the Big State Conference, a conference championship, a conference tournament championship and HBU’s first appearance in an NAIA regional tournament. She received Big State Conference Coach of the Year her first season.

Platt has coached 23 all-conference players with six of those going on to receive AVCA/NAIA All-American honors and one AVCA/NAIA National Player of the Year. She also instills the value of education in her student-athletes and has coached 34 academic all-conference honorees with nine of those going on to achieve NAIA Volleyball Scholar-Athlete.

Prior to taking over the HBU program, Platt was an assistant coach at Howard Payne University for two seasons following a very successful playing career for the Huskies. As a player, she still ranks fourth in digs with 1,193, seventh in career kills with 740, ninth in service aces with 106 and fifth in blocks solo with 98 in school history.

Tachikara will formally present the AVCA NAIA National Coach of the Year award on Dec. 19 in New Orleans at the AVCA/Tachikara Coach of the Year banquet. The brunch is held in conjunction with the 2002 AVCA Annual Convention.