Tuesday, July 29th

Dan Friend

This spring Coach Friend was named an Assistant Coach for the 2008 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team.  He will spend most of his summer months in Chula Vista, California with the Junior National Team which will then compete in the NORCECA Under-21 Continental Championship June 30-July 5 in El Salvador.

Coach Friend just completed his fourth season at the helm of the Lewis University men's volleyball program. In his 11th season as a head coach, Friend began the 2007-08 season with a 203-130 overall record.

Last season Friend led the Flyers to a 17-14 overall record, upping his record to 44-46 with the Lewis men. Lewis reached the postseason for the first time under Friend, falling to Ball State in the opening round of the conference tournament. Three Flyers earned All-MIVA recognition following the season and nine made the all-academic list.

Before arriving at Lewis, Friend served as the men's and women's volleyball head coach at Newman University. Friend started the men's volleyball program at Newman in 2002 and led the team to the NAIA national championship match in its third year. He coached the Jets to a 20-win season in 2003 and was named NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading the 2004 squad to a 29-11 mark and national runner-up finish.

As Newman's women's head volleyball coach, Friend guided the program to 22 or more wins in each of his three seasons at the helm. He coached 15 all-conference, eight all-region and two All-America players. In 2003, the Jets posted a 32-8 overall record and 14-2 league mark.

Before coaching at Newman, Friend spent three seasons as an assistant women's volleyball coach at Washburn University. Prior to that, Friend was a student assistant at Washburn for four years.

Friend also coached and played for a college-age men's team called USA Athletes on five different summer tours. That team took first at the 2007 Scottish Open, 2004 Aruba Invitational and the 2002 Down Under Games (Australia). In 2003 the team finished third in the DKV Invitational (Netherlands).

Friend is a native of Topeka, Kan., and a graduate of Washburn University. He earned a bachelor's degree in athletic training and exercise physiology at Washburn before completing a master's degree in sports administration at the University of Kansas.

Friend is a certified athletic trainer who has worked in a rehabilitation clinic and at the University of Kansas. Friend is a member of the AVCA and the United States Volleyball Association. He also competes in the summer months on the EVP and AVP.