Cruz

The Maui News

First-year Ball State University men’s volleyball head coach Donan Cruz, a 2001 Baldwin High School graduate, was named Division I-II National Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Monday.

Cruz’s squad made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002, entering this week’s event as the No. 2 seed — the Cardinals will play the University of Hawaii in the national semifinals on Thursday.

Cruz helped Ball State (23-3) make a gradual climb up the NVA/AVCA Top 15 poll, from a preseason ranking of No. 15 to the No. 4 spot in the final regular-season poll, the highest ranking in school history.

His team beat UH twice in Muncie, Ind., this season, sweeping their match on Jan. 29 and winning in five sets on Jan. 31.

The Cardinals captured the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament championship, the school’s first in 20 years, as well as the conference regular-season title.

It’s the fifth time in his 11-year career that Cruz has earned AVCA National Coach of the Year honors — the other four were at the NAIA level with Grand View. He guided Grand View to NAIA national titles in 2018 and 2021.

Cruz is the second coach in Ball State program history to earn AVCA National Coach of the Year honors, joining 1995 and 1996 honoree Dr. Don Shondell.