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.