Lexi Sun the Lucky Dog/VBM national player of the year

Lexi Sun attacks for the USA while playing against Germany/FIVB photo

The volleyball world has been hearing about Lexi Sun for quite some time.

Consider that she did not __play her junior year in high school for Santa Fe Christian in Solana Beach, Calif., because of USA commitments.

But when she returned in 2016 for her senior season, the 6-foot-3 outside hitter helped the team go 32-8, win a CIF San Diego Section title and a berth in the state’s first Open Division semifinals.

The recipient of a horde of local, state and national accolades, Sun is the overwhelming choice as the 2016 Lucky Dog Volleyball/VolleyballMag.com girls’ high school player of the year.

“She’s the smartest player I’ve coached,” first-year Santa Fe Christian coach Amanda Miles said. “She far exceeded my expectations as a leader and a teammate. We qualified for the CIF semifinals because of the person she is, the leader she is and the work ethic she has. Lexi has the ability to take over a match. She’s one of those players you remember in your coaching career.”

While Sun’s statistics certainly are impressive (630 kills, .431 hitting percentage, 288 digs), Miles was more impressed with Sun as a person.

“It’s her character,” she said. “Her teammates absolutely love her. She gave pregame talks and spends time with her teammates off the court. Everybody trusted her and believed in her. She understands what it takes for a team to be successful.”

After playing for the USA, Lexi Sun took her junior season of high school volleyball off/NORCECA photo

Santa Fe junior defensive specialist-libero Camryn Tastad also had high praise for Sun, who is going to __play at Texas.

“She’s the best teammate I’ve ever had,” Tastad said. “She pushes everybody to be better and sets a high level of intensity when she steps on the court. When she’s ready to go, the team follows suit. She was a third coach out there.

“Lexi gave us pregame speeches and got us fired up and ready to go. She was at practice early and stayed after. She always was willing to put the effort in. Lexi is never satisfied. She keeps working. It’s never good enough. She keeps pushing herself to be better and she always had a big smile on her face doing it. She’s a bright and happy kid.”

At first, Sun wasn’t exactly a willing participant in the sport.

“I played soccer when I was younger,” she said. “My parents forced me to play volleyball. I was so mad. I was literally crying and telling them I don’t want to do this. They just wanted me to try it.”

It didn’t take long for Sun to reverse course.

“I fell in love with the sport,” she said. “I was tall and could jump pretty well.”

Sun, who has been at Santa Fe since kindergarten, is a longtime member of the Coast volleyball club and gives major credit to the organization, run by Ozhan Bahrambeygui, for her development.

“I’ve had a lot of support and love from my coaches at Coast as well as from my family,” she said. “My dad has inspired me and encouraged me to work so much harder and to get better. My friends also have supported me and encouraged me to be my best.”

Sun also had high praise for Miles and assistant coach Drew Burdette (who also coaches in the Coast club program).

“They turned the program around this year and got us all on the same page and molded us into the team we became,” she said. “I think it would shock people just how much we accomplished this season. I had incredible coaches and teammates. It was so fun this season.”

Sun said taking her junior off was necessary given her hectic schedule the summer prior.

“With the youth national team we went to Peru and played. I took time off to recover and rest my body,” she said. “It was a good decision, but it also was a good decision to play my senior year.”

Sun has taken all the accolades and attention she’s received in stride.

“I just have to remember to stay humble,” she said. “My parents created a platform for me. You have to work hard for everything you are given even though people say all these things. That gives me more incentive to work hard and get better. Anything that is given to me gives me more drive to get better.”

Sun still gushes about Santa Fe Christian’s postseason run.

“We won a CIF section title and made the semifinals of state,” she said. “That was above and beyond what was expected of us. We are a really small Christian school. We had the opportunity to play some really good teams this year. It was a team effort. Without every single player on the team we wouldn’t have had any success.”

And Sun, who sports a 3.8 grade-point average at Santa Fe, downplayed her role as a superstar on the team.

“I played the role the best I could,” she said. “It’s a team sport and I played my role on the team, the one I was given, the best I could.”

Miles noted Sun helped come up with the team’s motto this season of “stay humble, hustle hard.”

“It would be easy for a player of her caliber that has played at the highest levels to take plays off and not put in the effort all the time,” she said. “That’s not Lexi. She loves the game and is a relaxed, smiley and passionate player. She’s received a lot of hype and recognition and she stays pretty humble. Lexi is extraordinary.”

Tastad has zero doubt Sun will be successful at the next level.

“For sure,” she said. “Lexi will have a huge impact on Texas as a freshman because of her skill level and her work ethic.”

Chicago’s Mother McAuley Lucky Dog/VBM national team of the year

If you had to make a list of most storied girls’ high school volleyball programs in the country, Chicago-based Mother McAuley most certainly would be near the top of the list.

Entering 2016, the Mighty Macs, based on the city’s south side, had won 14 state titles and earned a state trophy seven other times.

That state title count now sits at 15 after McAuley team fought through a tremendously challenging schedule that ended with a three-set win over Minooka in the Class 4A state finals on the campus of Illinois State University.

For its accomplishments, Mother McAuley is the 2016 Lucky Dog Volleyball/VolleyballMag.com national girls high school team of the year.

The tough schedule weighed on the mind of 12^th-year head coach Jen DeJarld, who played at McAuley, was an assistant under legendary Mighty Macs coach Nancy Pedersen and also had two daughters (Jane, now at Boston College, and Ryann, now at Notre Dame) go through the program.

“The big question was playing the tough schedule we do every year,” said DeJarld, who played collegiately at Iowa. “We __play a pretty grueling schedule for a reason and to come away with one loss is pretty impressive. To go pretty much unscathed is not a goal, but it made the season special.”

McAuley went 4-1 at the Louisville Invitational, where its only loss of the season was to St. Joseph’s Academy of St. Louis. The Mighty Macs won a local tournament at Rich East High School, where they beat perennial power Wheaton St. Francis and then beat perennial national power Louisville Assumption twice within three days, the second of which occurred in the Mother McAuley ASICS Challenge tournament. The Mighty Macs won that prestigious tournament with victories over out-of-state foes Wahlert (Dubuque, Iowa), Assumption, Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.) and Henry Clay (Lexington, Ken.). 

Two days later, McAuley (40-1) beat St. Francis again and then won the west-suburban Autumnfest tournament in mid-October.

The Mighty Macs’ path to Redbird Arena and the state finals was no cakewalk, either. McAuley had to beat nationally ranked Geneva in three sets in a Class 4A supersectional in order to punch its state semifinals ticket.

“Our girls were relentless and competitive,” said DeJarld, who has a 420-67 career mark in 12 seasons at the helm (all 12 seasons of 30 or more wins and three of 40 or more). “I may have underestimated their competitiveness and drive this season.”

McAuley was powered offensively by Lucky Dog Volleyball/VolleyballMag.com All-American first-team selection Charley Niego (498 kills, 473 digs) and senior outside-right side Katie O’Connell, who had 334 kills and 434 digs. Senior libero Emma Reilly had 537 digs and DeJarld hit paydirt with sophomore setter Nancy Kane (985 assists, 270 digs, 46 blocks). Reilly and O’Connell were the team captains.

“Going into the season we had a void at the setter position,” DeJarld said. “We were hoping Nancy would be able to fill that. Being a sophomore, that’s a huge leadership role. We __play in front of 2,000 people frequently. She handled the position well and she handled the pressure well. She took off and improved every day. She was able to lead a team and direct seniors and juniors. She ran the court well and was a huge part of this success.”

Charley Niego of Mother McAuley

Niego said the team had to overcome doubts from the outside.

“At the beginning of the season we weren’t expected to be as good as we were because we lost a lot of talent,” she said. “We realized how good we were when we started beating the out-of-state teams. We had a lot of fight in us.”

McAuley was 5-1 this season in three-set matches, which included the three-set win over Minooka in the 4A final.

“We were down in a lot of third sets and never gave up,” Niego said. “We were mentally strong. We played a lot of good competition and teams from out of our state and we showed we could play against top competition.”

O’Connell said the team “was special from the very beginning.

“Everybody bought in and trusted each other. We bonded very well. We knew we lost some big seniors we relied on a lot. We knew we would have to step up and if we did that we knew we could accomplish big things. We pushed each other to get better. We played in a lot of big matches and got down by some big deficits. We never thought we would lose. We kept coming back.”

The storied history of the program is something that DeJarld never forgets.

“We try to keep the tradition going,” she said.

“This program has been an important part of my life. I was on two state title teams (1984 and 1985) and came back in 1995 and we were No. 1 in the nation. You never know if something like that is going to come along again. Now we’ve won 15 state titles. Keeping the tradition going is very important to me. Our staff has a lot of former players on it.

“It gets tougher and tougher every year because the teams we play and the players we go against keep getting stronger. It’s a big deal to be part of a program like this. I’m proud and honored to be coaching in it.”

Skutt’s Saunders Lucky Dog/VBM national coach of the year

Renee Saunders of Skutt HS in Omaha is the Lucky Dog/VBM national coach of the year

Renee Saunders is about as homegrown Omaha, Nebraska, as they come.

Saunders was a basketball and volleyball standout at Omaha Marian and played club for River City Juniors. She was named the Female Athlete of the Year by both the Lincoln Journal Star and the Omaha World-Herald.

She went on to __play both sports at the University of Nebraska and was a member of coach Terry Pettit’s 1995 national-championship team.

Renee Saunders was on the 1995 Nebraska NCAA championship team

“Terry Pettit was a phenomenal coach,” Saunders said. “I was one of the lucky ones to have been able to learn from him.”

Saunders coached at Omaha South before moving on to her current post as the head coach at Skutt Catholic in Omaha, where she has established a powerhouse program that has won the last two Class B state titles, including this year’s as Skutt went 44-0 in matches and 105-6 in sets.

Accordingly, Saunders is the Lucky Dog Volleyball/2016 VolleyballMag.com national girls high school coach of the year.

Skutt was “a phenomenal all-around well-balanced team,” Saunders said.

“These girls were the real deal. As a team we hit .351. We were well-balanced and we had a deep roster. We had great setting, great hitting, defense and serving. We did a lot of things really solid and that made us hard to beat.”

Saunders, who is 204-44 in six years at Skutt and has appeared in the last three state title matches, pointed out this year’s senior class (which had several four-year varsity players) lost a combined 17 matches during that span, nine of which came during their freshman season.

“It was a really good class that had a lot of talent,” Saunders said. “They __play club together or against each other and played in middle school together. They grew up together. They made each other better. They bought into my vision for the program 100 percent. They set their goals high and were willing to work hard to get to where they wanted to be.

“My vision for the program when I took over was to make it the best in the state. We achieved that and now it is to maintain that same standard year after year. I have high expectations for myself, my coaches and my players. These kids were willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals.”

Skutt was powered by the senior duo of outside hitter Brooke Heyne and setter Allison Schomers, both of whom earned Super State recognition (the highest honor in Nebraska high school volleyball).

But Heyne and Schomers both are quick to point out Skutt wouldn’t be where it is today without the leadership of Saunders.

“She has an endless love for volleyball,” said Schomers, who is headed to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. “Her love spreads to the team. She knows what it takes to get championships and she passes that knowledge on to us really well. She probably played the biggest role this season. She puts the lineups together, coaches us in practice and keeps us calm. Saunders is the rock behind this team. She gets us going and she knows what we need. She brings such an energy.”

Heyne, headed to Kansas State, agreed.

“She deserves a lot of credit,” she said. “This year and last year we grew so much over the course of the year and that started in summer workouts and practices. She has built the volleyball program at Skutt into a great one. She brought in a sand court so we can practice in the summer in the sand. She’s made people very aware of volleyball at our school.”

Heyne added that Saunders’ success as a high school, club and college player makes a difference with the Skutt players.

“She was in our position before,” she said. “She knows about the next level and knows what it’s all about. She can relate to you one-on-one.”

Saunders stressed her bottom-line goal at Skutt is to make sure each player has a memorable experience.

“What makes Skutt special is we make memories for our students and players,” Saunders said. “This year we added video boards to the gym so the girls got to see their pictures up on the board for a truly interactive experience. Last year and this year we made hype videos for the girls before tournaments. This past summer we went to Colorado State for a team camp. Everything we do here is to make the experience great for our kids. This is a special place to work and a special thing to be part of.

“My whole philosophy of this program is built around the concept that we work hard to achieve our goals, but the game itself is fun to play. My players smile when they play. It is not a job or chore. They love what they do and I love what I do.”

From UCLA to the Olympics, now back to UCLA for Speraw

USA coach John Speraw celebrates his team's Rio Olympics quarterfinal victory over Poland/FIVB photo

There really is no down time for John Speraw.

From the UCLA men to the Olympics and, now, back to the NCAA men’s season.

Speraw was in Columbus, Ohio, both as a presenter at the AVCA Convention and also to spread the word about a new venture in which he’s involved that hopes to boost men’s volleyball in America.

After the Olympics, he said, “I got the opportunity to go to Montana for a couple of weeks to tune out and really it was the first time in my career that I needed it. The Olympic experience, it’s hard to explain, but it’s the most emotionally engaging, challenging, stressful, pressure-induced, exhilarating I’ve ever had in sport.”

The USA men won the bronze medal in Rio, pretty unlikely after getting swept by Canada and losing to Italy to open the tournament before beating Brazil, France and Mexico to get out of pool play. Then the USA beat Poland in the quarterfinals before losing to Italy in five in the semifinals. Speraw’s team capped the Olympics by beating Russia in five to win the bronze medal.

“I’ve just never seen anything like it, from watching the my players played to how our opponents played. Everybody gives literally everything they have every time on the court. And of course our journey was so challenging in that we went down 0-2 and had to come back and beat Brazil and France just to stay in the tournament. It took a ton of emotional resolve from all of us and I had to shoulder my part of that.

“So, yeah, I needed a break when it was all over.”

John Speraw and USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal enjoy a victory in Rio/FIVB photo

But when that break was over, the it was time to debrief after the Olympics and get back to UCLA.

“There were a lot of lessons that were learned from the Olympic Games, which was good. It was such a unique experience,” he said. It’s the only tournament where we __play every other day in that kind of environment.”

Speraw and his staff documented it all, and not just the Rio Games.

“It turned into a quad review,” Speraw said, “and then there’s the strategic plan we need to put into place for the next four years. That ended up coming into __play this fall. I got those two weeks off but then I got back to recruiting at UCLA and I got back to organizing for the next quad for the USA.”

He laughed.

“Like everybody else in America I work 50 weeks a year and get a couple of weeks off.”

The men’s college season gets under way in earnest next week and the Bruins were picked to finish second in both the AVCA national preseason poll (behind Ohio State) and in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (behind BYU). BYU is No. 3 in the AVCA.

Last year, UCLA lost to Ohio State in the NCAA semifinals. The Buckeyes then went on to upset top-ranked BYU in the title match. The Burins open play at Loyola in Chicago on January 3.

The MPSF poll, Speraw said, “is pretty accurate.

“BYU was a better team than we were last year. They beat us three times and they’re returning most of their starting lineup. We’re returning all of our starting lineup, but they’re still physically a remarkable team and they’re going to be better. All those guys were in the USA gym this summer. I think BYU is a really special team. 

“And Long Beach. We were able to beat Long Beach last year, but every match was really close and they were incredibly young and talented and they return everybody, too. 

“So I think you’ll see all those teams beating each other up and I think the level of volleyball could be even better at the top end this year.

“I think a team like Hawai’i is going to be better and a team like Stanford could surprise and Irvine’s not going to have the issues they had last year and they’re going to be better and will be back in the mix. Pepperdine had two freshmen outside hitters that are going to get better and that team will be better. SC’s going to be better. I just think everybody’s going to be a little better.”

UCLA should be better, too. The Bruins boast one of the great young players in explosive sophomore setter/hitter Micah Ma’a, who also spent time in the USA gym.

“He’s a special volleyball talent and he’s an even better person,” Speraw said. “He provides a lot of leadership for our team. We get a lot of leadership from our team. (Senior setter) Hagan Smith can do it, (senior middle) Mitch Stahl  provides a ton of it.

“We’ve had to mature a lot the way we play the game. We had some injuries in the fall and couldn’t practice the way I hoped, but I think we can be better than we were last year. And we have some freshmen talent that’s going to help us.”

The Bruins will count on 6-foot-10 junior middle Oliver Martin and also some potentially impact freshmen.

“But we have a kid Daenan Gyimah (a 6-8 middle) from Canada who’s really going to be a special player for us,” Speraw said. “Whether it’s his freshman year, I don’t know. He’s touching over 12 feet  and had a really great fall. I think he’s going to be really impressive for us down the road.”

But even with the start of the UCLA season, there’s still energy devoted to the Olympic team with an eye on Tokyo 2020. Speraw said he, his staff and his players have given a great deal of thought on how to manage the next four years, including who trains how and who plays what and where.

He referred to “volume management” especially for older players like right side Matt Anderson “to make sure we’re peaking in Tokyo.”

Going into 2016, “Everybody knew things were changing. And when things are changing and you’re looking at the  world of elite volleyball, the margins are so thin. The level is so good and if you slip a little bit, it’s hard to win. And I think there was a lot of uncertainty if we would win. And certainly some uncertainty if we would qualify for the Olympic Games.

“So for us to have the quad we had, where we won a World League, won a World Cup, medaled at the Olympics, with a group of young guys, it was an exceptional quad in my mind.”

Longtime veteran Reid Priddy has said he will retire from indoor, and middle David Lee has hinted he might call it quits, but Speraw said he’s not sure Lee won’t be back.

“Now we go into this quad with an almost entire different feeling. Because now instead of uncertainty you know you’ve invested this time in a young group of guys and you’re optimistic it could have some payoff.

“That being said, that very thought process could get you into trouble and we have to make sure that we know that we have a lot of room to improve. We’ve got to stay as focused and as disciplined in our training in this next quad. But mostly I’m excited because I love coaching the guys.”

Which Speraw credited for the comeback in Rio.

“They were great character guys and that’s what it all came down to.”

Speraw also is involved with a partner, Wade Garard, with www.motormvb.com, which is in its infancy but will be an organization devoted to the growth of men’s and boys volleyball. We’ll have more on that later this year.

Hartmann named Second Team All-State by the LSWA

The sophomore adds this distinction to her First Team All-SSAC accolade that she earned in November.

 

After becoming the first Wolf Pack volleyball player to be named First Team All-SSAC since 2012 in November, Loyola University New Orleans standout middle blocker Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) added to her postseason accolades on Thursday afternoon by being named Second Team All-State by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA).

The Slidell native had a breakout year in her second season with the maroon and gold; leading the squad and ranking seventh in the league with 381 kills while sitting sixth in the conference with a .302 hitting percentage.  Her 96 total blocks and 0.7 blocks per set were eighth most in the SSAC and her 2.9 kills per set were good enough for ninth in the league.

Nationally, Hartmann ended the 2016 campaign with the 48th best hitting percentage in the NAIA and the fifth highest mark in Loyola volleyball history.

In 38 matches, Hartmann notched double-digit kills 21 times, highlighted by a 20-kill performance against Middle Georgia State on September 18. She collected six blocks in a match twice this season and recorded at least one block in all but two contests throughout the year.

Hartmann becomes the second Wolf Pack volleyball player to earn Second Team All-State Honors by the LSWA in the past three seasons, joining Eva Allen who earned the honor in 2014 to go along with two career all-state honorable mention nods.

Loyola ended the 2016 season at 15-23 overall with an 8-12 mark in the SSAC. The Wolf Pack qualified for the SSAC Volleyball Championships for the third-straight time under the direction of Head Coach Angela Franke, where they went 1-2 at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery, Ala.

Top 5 most-read 2016 stories from the new VolleyballMag.com

Corinne Atchison coaching the TAV 13s at USA Volleyball nationals last summer in Indianapolis/Scott Alan Giambalvo photo

There were some really good stories before then, but we decided since we launched the new VolleyballMag.com website on August 1, we’d start there.

So what were the most-read VBM stories from August 1 to now?

Well, since Ed Chan and I bought the old Volleyball magazine and converted it to a daily online publication, we’re on track for more than a million page views in the first year. In those first five months we’ve covered everything from the Olympics to the NCAA women’s season to tons of beach volleyball, with many great features in between. And not all came from the VBM staff and, interestingly, the single-most well-read piece came from a contributor.

Dan Apol watches as Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera celebrate their World Series of Beach Volleyball 2015 bronze-medal/Ed Chan, VBshots.com

No. 5 — Beach official Dan Apol

Sadly, Dan died in November. Ed’s feature on Dan before he went to Rio to officiate beach volleyball was extremely well read in August, but then viewed even more after Dan died. The original story is intact, but we topped it with information about and reaction to Dan’s death.

Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield talks with All-American setter Lauren Carlini during their loss to Stanford in the NCAA regional final/Wisconsin photo

No. 4 — Kelly Sheffield’s NCAA semifinals analysis

Wisconsin, as it turned out, was the only team to __play all four of the teams that advanced to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship.

So the Monday after the final four was decided, which included his own Wisconsin team losing at home in five to eventual-champion Stanford, Sheffield graciously and candidly broke down the field and the two match-ups.

Valparaiso libero/setter Morganne Longoria bump sets for the Crusaders

No 3 — Valpo libero/setter Morganne Longoria

When both setters got hurt, Valparaiso coach Carin Avery had to do something. So she called on senior libero Morganne Longoria to take over as setter — without giving up the libero jersey!

And it worked.

In his story for VBM, Aaron Leavitt profiled Longoria and the new-look Crusaders, who prospered in the unorthodox scheme. What’s more, Longoria had such a good season she made the VBM All-American third team.

Kelsey Humphreys of Stanford serves earlier this season against Washington State/Ed Chan, VBshots.com

No. 2 — Kelsey Humphreys adjusts for the greater Stanford good

And it paid off in a big way, especially on the last point of the NCAA season, as the senior perfectly bump set an out-of-system ball for the championship-point kill.

The Humphreys story has had almost 12,000 page views and was shared not only in the volleyball community, but the sports world in general because of the message. Humphreys, a senior who waiting three years to finally set, was taken out of that role in mid-season, relegated to being a server and defensive specialist.

But Stanford went on a roll after the change, all the way to the NCAA Division I Championship, where the Cardinal beat Minnesota and Stanford and Humphreys was outstanding in her role.

Humphreys admitted at first the change was hard to take and it took everything she had to bounce back, but realized she had to do what was best for the team. And after Stanford won it all, she said with excitement, “It is so worth it!”

Corinne Atchison coaching last summer/Scott Alan Giambalvo photo

No. 1 — Club coach Corinne Atchison deals with concussions

Dallas club coach Corinne Atchison had no idea that writing about her story for VBM would change her life. But a piece that has been viewed more than 15,000 times will do that, especially regarding such an important issue.

Atchison deals with concussion symptoms brought about by being hit by volleyballs. She’s doing great now, but her life was turned upside down in a terrible way after being hit in the head.

“Getting the story out there just made people more aware,” Atchison said. “And I didn’t realize how many people also had issues like it. It opened my eyes to see so many people going through the same ordeal I did. There’s more and more concern for the kids every day now. I just opened up discussion and I wasn’t expecting that.”

She’s been able to turn a negative into a positive and we caught up Tuesday, not long after she was invited to present at the AVCA Convention after the AVCA saw her story in September. Her talk “had a mix of college and club coaches and it was kind of cool because I did my talk and toward the last 15, 20 minutes it kind of turned into a roundtable discussion.

“We talked about helping USA Volleyball making it mandatory to do baseline testing and there are a lot of people on board with it. I really had no idea.”

Atchison coaches for the renowned TAV and once again will have the TAV 13s Black. She’s coached three teams to club national championships in the past four years, including the USA Volleyball 13s open last summer.

“I’m feeling a lot better. I still go through all my therapies and day by day I’m getting and stronger. Everybody around me notices little things here and there, so I’m moving in the right direction.

“A year ago I was a complete different person. I think maybe talking about it has helped me, too, just getting it out there and not holding everything in so much. It’s been nice to get the monkey off my back a little bit.”

And the volleyball world is better off because she shared her story.

Georgia hires LMU’s Black, Arizona State promotes Tomasevic

Tom Black coaching LMU this past September against San Diego/LMU photo

Two major coaching openings were filled recently when Georgia hired Tom Black away from Loyola Marymount and Arizona State stayed in house and promoted assistant coach Sanja Tomasevic.

That leaves Division I openings that include LMU, Manhattan, Virginia Tech, Delaware, Indiana State, Stetson, Stony Brook, Montana, Middle Tennessee and Texas-Arlington.

Georgia gets in Black a successful coach who served as one of Karch Kiraly’s assistants the past Olympiad with the USA women’s national team.

In seven seasons at LMU, Black had a 127-86 overall record and got LMU to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the round of 16 in 2015.

He replaced Lizzie Stemke, whose program had some tough times of late. Georgia was 13-18 this season, 1-17 in the Southeastern Conference, which followed an 0-18 SEC mark in 2015.

Georgia’s news release had this from Kiraly:

“A huge congratulations to Tom and to the University of Georgia women’s volleyball program. Tom has played a pivotal role in the development and success of our USA Women’s Team since he joined our staff in 2013, especially through his program-wide focus on learning and growth. We’ll miss him, and we wish him great luck!”

ASU coach Sanja Tomasevic

Tomasevic, a former star at Washington when the Huskies won the 2005 NCAA title, has been at ASU since she was hired by former head coach Stevie Mussie. Mussie went 12-20, 5-15 in the Pac-12, in her only season with the Sun Devils when the school abruptly fired her immediately after the season ended.

On November 27, ASU released this statement from athletic director Ray Anderson:
“Sun Devil Volleyball Coach Stevie Mussie is no longer with the program. We will launch a national search immediately for her successor.  Sanja Tomasevic will act as interim head indoor volleyball coach with Brad Keenan continuing to serve as head beach volleyball coach.”

Tomasevic was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for ASU’s indoor program in 2016.

“Sanja is the right choice at the right time to lead our indoor volleyball program to sustainable success,” Anderson said. “I am confident she will build a culture of excellence and integrity, and provide an environment in which our student athletes will truly thrive.”

Manhattan’s Mark Jones resigned after eight seasons.

Stetson’s opening was created when the school decided to separate the indoor and beach programs. Coach Kristina Hernandez is going strictly beach.

Montana’s Brian Doyon resigned after two seasons.

Delaware fired head coach Bonnie Kenny and assistant Cindy Gregory in the middle of their 15th season in October and put Brian Toron and Dana Griskowitz in charge.

Virginia Tech’s Chris Riley left after 11 seasons.

Stony Brook fired Coley Pawlikowski after four seasons.

Indiana State fired Traci Dahl-Skinner after nine seasons.

Middle Tennessee had an early season change when Dan Ahiers resigned in September of his first season and the school and made Jeff Huebner interim head coach.

And at Texas-Arlington, a replacement has yet to be found for the only coach the program has ever had after Diane Seymour resigned after 30 years.

In Division II, Northern Michigan hired Rashinda Reed. Most recently, she had been an assistant at UAB.

Great look back: What John Dunning said about Stanford last May

Stanford coach John Dunning last May: "There are enough pieces there if we mature enough to be quite good."

Stanford won the 2016 NCAA championship as the Cardinal caught fire at midseason and got better and better, especially as it won all six matches in the NCAA Tournament, knocking off, in order, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 2 Minnesota and No. 4 Texas in the title match.

There was no doubt entering the season that Stanford could be pretty good, but it was still an unlikely choice to win it all.

Last May, we sat down with coach John Dunning in his Stanford office and did a three-part video interview. It came right in the middle of the Cardinal’s spring practice.

The first segment was a look back at 2015, a season that ended with Stanford being upset by Loyola Marymount in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal had a lot of promise for 2015, but senior All-American middle blocker Inky Ajanaku was lost for the season when she blew out her knee the previous summer while playing internationally for the USA.

The  second segment was all about Ajanaku, who was returning after recovering from ACL surgery. Her story, of course is well-documented and last week she was named the VolleyballMag.com national player of the year.

And the third was about what 2016 might hold. Now that Stanford has won it all, it’s really interesting to listen to what Dunning had to say three months before the season began.

This is the segment that looks ahead to the 2016 season:

This is the segment of Dunning talking about 2015:

And this is the segment of Dunning on Inky: