By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tennessee Tech associate head volleyball coach and head beach volleyball coach Zach Weinberg has been elected to serve on the American Volleyball Coaches Association Board of Directors, as announced by the organization Wednesday morning.
Weinberg will serve a three-year team as the Assistant Coaches Representative, joining President-Elect Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Creighton), NCAA Division I Women's Representative Marie Zidek (DePaul), and NAIA Representative Candace Moats (Indiana Wesleyan) to round out the 17-member AVCA Board. He will begin his service Jan. 1, 2023.
"It is an honor and a privilege to have been elected by my peers to serve as the Assistant Coach Representative on the AVCA Board of Directors," Weinberg said. "The AVCA is an organization that I am extremely passionate about and to serve as the voice for all of the assistant coaches around the country is a role that I will not take lightly. As collegiate volleyball continues to evolve in today's changing NCAA landscape, I'm excited to aid in shaping the growth of our amazing game through this board seat. I'd like to thank [Tech director of athletics] Mark Wilson and [Tech head volleyball coach] Jeannette Phillips for allowing me to serve the sport of volleyball on behalf of Tennessee Tech and I cannot wait to get to work with the AVCA in the new year."
In the midst of his fifth season with the Golden Eagles, Weinberg served as the head coach of the USA women's volleyball open team at this past summer's Maccabiah Games in Israel. He will embark on the first season of Tennessee Tech beach volleyball this spring, serving as the new program's first head coach.
A rising star in the sport, Weinberg was honored as a 2021 Thirty Under 30 Award winner by the AVCA, an award created in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport. Since joining Phillips' staff upon her arrival in 2018, Weinberg has helped build the Golden Eagles into one of the best programs in the OVC.
Tech sits 14-12 overall and an impressive 11-3 in league play this season, currently ranked second in the OVC standings with two weekends to play. The Golden Eagles posted marks of 16-14 and 11-7 last season, the best showing by the team since winning the league championship in 2008.
The Golden Eagles hit the road for the final time in the regular season next weekend, making the long trek north for a pair of tilts at Eastern Illinois. Tech will square off with the Panthers Friday, Nov. 4 at 6:00 p.m. CT and again at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5.
Photo by Jim Dillon