By Will Baskin-Gerwitz
A new menâs head coach will join the girlsâ volleyball team this upcoming year, the athletic department announced May 10, ending a two-and-a-half month search. Adam Black will fill a vacancy that has lasted since the resignation of former head coach Jesse Quiroz Jan. 31.
Black comes to the team from a variety of college assistant coaching jobs, most recently a two year stint as the menâs assistant coach for Pepperdine University.
His new job will be his first high school position since he left Chaminade in 2003, and his first time coaching girls since he was the assistant coach at California State University Northridge in 2002.
âI think [in] menâs volleyball and womenâs volleyball, boysâ volleyball and girlsâ volleyball, thereâs not a whole lot of difference,â Black said. âI think coaching is coaching, and we are really coaching individuals rather than genders.â
Blackâs initial changes to the program will focus more on coaching. Although nothing has been finalized, he said that there may be a few new coaches, or old coaches taking on new responsibility. He also plans on expanding the teamâs statistics program to the junior varsity level.
Although he first saw the Wolverine volleyball program while coaching Chaminade, he was drawn this year to coach the girlsâ team in large part due to the Athletic Departmentâs policy of vertical integration.
The structure allows varsity coaches to guide the growth of athletes in the sport from seventh grade up through their senior year.
âItâs an interesting aspect for me, coming from the college level,â Black said. âAt Division I, when you only have four years with each athlete, you donât have a chance to really train them. Here, you have a few extra years.âÂ
Black will be replacing Quiroz, who won seven CIF championships.