The coach who guided Barry to the program’s first appearance in the national coaches poll is coming to UMES.
UMES announced Friday that it hired Imanol Davila-Morales to be its new men’s volleyball head coach.
Davila-Morales in his only season at Barry guided the Buccaneers to a program record 21 wins and ended the regular season at No. 9 in the Division II National Coaches Poll. The 2026 IVA Coach of Year also led the second-year program to the IVA Tournament semifinals.
Along with his experience at Barry, Davila-Morales served as a graduate assistant coach at McKendree. McKendree with Davila-Morales on the coaching staff won its first MIVA regular season championship in program history.
“Coach Davila-Morales has a demonstrated passion, knowledge and skillset that makes him a great leader for UMES men’s volleyball,” Vice President of Athletics Tara Owens said in a statement. As we continue to promote the emerging sport of men’s volleyball, we are excited to support Coach Davila-Morales and the Hawk men’s volleyball program as they prepare for the upcoming season.”
UMES enters the program’s second season after reaching the NEC Tournament semifinals.
The team in its inaugural season went 17-11, including winning five of its final six regular season matches to make the postseason.