LEXINGTON, Va. - On the heels of leading
Southwestern University to the SCAC Volleyball Championship, head
coach Hannah Long has been named the 2009 AVCA Division III South
Region Coach of the Year.
Long's Southwestern team comes into this week's NCAA Tournament
riding a 31-match win streak, dating back to early
September. After rolling through Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference regular season play with a 15-0 mark, the Pirates won
all three matches in the conference tournament, securing the
program's first outright SCAC Championship title since 1997.
With a 33-3 overall record going into their first-round NCAA
Tournament matchup against Dallas, Southwestern has been ranked in
the AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll all season, coming in at
No. 12 for the past four weeks.
In just her sixth season as head coach, Long's Pirates have won at
least 25 matches each year, and have five consecutive seasons of 30
or more victories. Long was named the SCAC Coach of the Year
in 2009, her third such honor in just six seasons, and has a 191-44
record at the school entering this week's play.
This is her first AVCA Division III South Region Coach of the Year
honor.