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Record: 170-24 (2003-present)
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Postal Address: Wittenberg University P.O. Box 720 Springfield, Ohio 45501 |
Package Shipping Address: Wittenberg University 225 Fountain Ave. Springfield, Ohio 45504 |
No active coach in all of NCAA Volleyball (Division I, II or III) has won with more regularity than Wittenberg coach Paco Labrador, who has amassed a record of 170-24 and a winning percentage of .876 in five seasons at the helm of the Tigers.
Additionally, Labrador has chalked up an impressive postseason record, including five straight berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament and three consecutive trips to the national semifinals (2005, 2006 and 2007). Under his guidance, six Tigers have garnered All-America accolades, including the mostly highly decorated athlete in Wittenberg history, Sarah Yuskewich, who holds the Division III record for assists in a season and was a three-time first-team All-America honoree.
In 2007, Wittenberg enjoyed its first-ever undefeated regular season, going 32-0. The momentum continued into the postseason as the Tigers picked up two more conference tournament wins and four NCAA Division III Tournament wins before losing to the eventual national champions Washington University in the NCAA Final Four. The Tigers finished the 2007 season with a sparkling 38-1 record. During the unbeaten streak, Wittenberg won 17 consecutive matches without dropping a single game and posted a consecutive games streak of 54 in a row, which ranks No. 2 in NCAA Division III history.
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The Great Lakes Region has awarded Labrador its Regional Coach of the Year award twice (2004 and 2007) while the NCAC has voted him Conference Coach of the Year in both 2006 and 2007.
Wittenberg has not only excelled on the court but also in the classroom under Labrador's guidance. The Tigers have earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, given to teams that cumulatively average a 3.3 grade point average or higher, every year since Labrador took the position in 2003. Additionally, two Wittenberg players have earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District awards, with Emily Bell going on to become just the second Wittenberg volleyball player in school history to pick up Academic All-America honors (second-team in 2007).
The Tigers have even found success internationally during Labrador's career. In the summer of 2004 and most recently in the summer of 2007, the Wittenberg volleyball team competed in Spain. Labrador and his father, Jose, led the team on educational and cultural tours in historic towns and cities on off-days between competition dates against semi-pro and professional teams. Not surprisingly, each season following a team trip to Spain, the Tigers found a new level of volleyball success. The 2004 season resulted in a then program-best 35-3 overall record, with Labrador earning his first NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honors. Those achievements were topped in 2007.
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Labrador graduated from Hiram College, a member of the NCAC along with Wittenberg, in 1995 with degrees in psychology and exercise and sport science. He also holds a master of science from Miami University in sport studies, which he earned in 1997. He came to Wittenberg after four years as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) University, where he was active in all phases of the program, including scouting and game preparation, recruiting, skill development and summer camps.
Labrador and his wife Jill, a 6th grade teacher, reside in Columbus.
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Brittany Baume, a 2003 graduate of Wittenberg University, was named assistant volleyball coach prior to the 2005 season.
Baume enjoyed four standout seasons as an outside hitter for the Tigers between 1999 and 2002. In 1999, she was named North Coast Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and Player of the Year, the only player in the history of the conference to be honored with both titles in the same season. She added first-team All-NCAC honors and All-Great Lakes Region honors in 1999 and 2000.
A three-year captain, Baume ranks seventh in school history with 1,234 career kills, and her 602 kills in 2000 also puts her seventh in school history. She garnered third-team Verizon Academic All-District IV honors in 2001 and second-team in 2002.
In 2004-05, Baume served as a volleyball graduate assistant coach at Urbana University and helped the Blue Knights to a school record 29 wins on the season. She also served as a Junior Olympic volleyball official for the Ohio Valley Region for six years, and she now coordinates Junior Olympic tournaments at Wittenberg each spring.
Baume, who will also work with the Tiger women's basketball program as an assistant coach, earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Wittenberg. Immediately after graduation, Baume was a supervisor for the Science Resource Center at The American School in Tokyo, Japan.
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Dennis Dahlberg returned to his alma mater in 2007 as an assistant women's volleyball coach for the Tigers.
Prior to returning to Wittenberg, Dahlberg gathered a wealth of volleyball experience from coaching at the collegiate, club and high school levels. He began coaching club volleyball teams in 1995 and by 2003 he had founded his own club, the Midwest Elite Volleyball Club, which he continues to operate. He also works closely with the Matchpoint Volleyball Club.
On the high school level, Dahlberg coached Springfield Shawnee High School for seven years. During his years at the helm, his teams won six consecutive conference titles and finished the season ranked in the top 20 in the state six consecutive years. Dahlberg was also named Coach of the Year four different times by the Springfield News-Sun and District IX. Before coaching at Shawnee, Dahlberg led London High School.
At the college level, Dahlberg previously served as the head volleyball coach at Clark State Community College. At Wittenberg, he spent seasons as a student assistant and graduate assistant volleyball coach.
Dahlberg, who earned his bachelor's degree in history with minors in education and political science from Wittenberg, completed his requirements in 2007 for a Master's of Science Education degree with a specialization in physical education and teaching/coaching philosophy from the University of Dayton. Dahlberg currently resides in Springfield and teaches social studies classes at Shawnee High School.
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