The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) has announced that Muskingum Volleyball Head Coach Hallie Cruzen has been honored with the 30 Under Thirty Award. The award was created in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport. To qualify for the award, nominees had to be younger than 30 years old in 2019.
In Cruzen's four years at the helm of the Muskie program, she has been honored as the Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and guided Muskingum to four straight OAC Tournament appearances, one OAC Regular-Season Championship, one OAC Tournament Championship game, and one NCAA Tournament berth. Throughout Cruzen's tenure, 13 student-athletes have been named All-OAC, five have garnered OAC Player of the Week accolades, three have been named Great Lakes All-Region, and three have earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-American accolades. Furthermore, the Muskies have excelled in the classroom with 20 student-athletes being named Academic All-OAC.
"This is a great honor for Hallie to be recognized on the national level for all her hard work and dedication," said Muskingum Vice President and Athletic Director Steve Brockelbank. "Hallie has impacted the lives of numerous Muskies and we are fortunate to have her at the helm of the Muskingum volleyball program."
This past season, Muskingum finished the year with a 27-4 overall record with an 8-1 slate in the OAC en route to being ranked as high as 11th in the AVCA Top 25 Poll. The Muskies secured their best campaign since 1999 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The AVCA, with its headquarters in Lexington, Ky., is managed by Associations International. The mission of the AVCA is to advance the sport of volleyball with AVCA coaches at the epicenter of leadership, advocacy, and professional development. With a membership of almost 7,000 and counting, the AVCA provides a professional network for those individuals and companies dedicated to enhancing and promoting the sport. Members include collegiate, high school, club, youth, and Olympic coaches, as well as volleyball club directors. The AVCA provides education to volleyball coaches, recognition of elite players and coaches, promotion of volleyball competitions throughout the world, and networking opportunities for volleyball products and services providers.