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A former assistant coach at a Canadian college will take over the program at Belmont Abbey.
Belmont Abbey athletics director Stephen Miss announced earlier this week that it hired Sean Manzi to be its new men’s volleyball head coach and women’s volleyball assistant coach.
“Coach Manzi’s knowledge of the sport of volleyball was evident throughout the hiring process; what impressed us most, however, was his passion and enthusiasm for the game and his vision for both our men’s and women’s programs moving forward, especially with regard to the formation and development of character of the student-athletes under his charge,” Miss said in a statement.
Manzi, a California native, spent last season serving as an assistant coach at the University Guelph in Ontario. He also helped guide the team to have one of the top 10 defenses in the nation.
Along with his experience at Guelph, Manzi was an assistant coach at Valley City State and led the team to the NAIA Tournament in 2011. In addition, he spent time on the women’s volleyball coaching staffs at Eastern New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands and Bates College.
Belmont Abbey finished last season in sixth place in the Conference Carolinas and reached the conference tournament quarterfinals for the second time in its three-year program history.
“I am excited to build on the success that the program has showed each of the past three seasons,” Manzi said in a statement. “There is a wonderful nucleus of talent and leadership in place and I look forward to building the men’s program into a conference and national contender.”
Manzi will replace Mary DeJute as the Crusaders’ head coach. DeJute spent the last two seasons serving as the head coach for both the Belmont Abbey men’s and women’s volleyball teams.