Emerging NCAA Division II team Holy Names hires Oliver as head coach

Holy Names University will stay within its own athletics department for its next men’s volleyball head coach.

Athletics director Cesar Cardenas announced earlier this week that Holy Names women’s volleyball coach Ali Oliver will assume the men’s volleyball head coaching responsibilities for the upcoming season.

“I am thrilled to take over the men’s program,” Oliver said in a statement. “I’m excited to see what the future brings for men’s volleyball at Holy Names and I’m anxious to bring in my first recruiting class for the team.”

Oliver was hired as the Hawks’ women’s volleyball head coach for the start of the 2013 season after coaching at Whittier College for six years. She also was a former player at Southern Louisiana University and was among the nation’s top five in aces during her junior season.

Along with her women’s volleyball experience, Oliver started and coach men’s volleyball teams at Cerritos College and Whittier College. In addition, she has spent several years coaching high school and club boys’ volleyball teams.

“Combining both programs under the direction of [Oliver] is a benefit to our volleyball student-athletes,” Cardenas said in a statement. “I’m excited to see her knowledge of the game and prior experience coaching both men and women, help our volleyball program.”

Holy Names, located in Oakland, California, is entering its third and final season of a three-year transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. In addition, the team will compete during the 2015 season as an independent program without a conference.

The Hawks last season went 2-9, including a non-conference loss to McKendree.

Oliver becomes the third active female head coach of a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team. She is also the only female head coach of a West Coast men’s volleyball program.