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.