Puerto Rico hires former Penn State great Hernandez as head coach

A multiple All-American selection who helped Penn State win its first national championship will now get the opportunity to rebuild the Puerto Rican Men’s National Team.

The Puerto Rican National Volleyball Federation announced earlier this week that it hired former Penn State outside attacker Ramon Hernandez to be the new Puerto Rico head coach.

Hernandez earned All-American honors in three consecutive seasons and was named to the First-Team All-EIVA each season while playing for Penn State from 1991-94. The EIVA Hall of Fame inductee more than 20 years after graduating remains in the Nittany Lions’ top five for career kills, career blocks and career digs.

In his final college match, Hernandez had a team-high 38 kills on a .444 attack percentage as Penn State upset UCLA in the 1994 NCAA Tournament finals. He also earned the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player award because of that championship match performance.

Hernandez following his college career played professionally and represented Puerto Rico in beach volleyball at the 2004 Olympics.

Along with his playing experience, Hernandez served as an assistant coach for the Puerto Rican Men’s National Team from 2008-12. In addition, he was the head coach for the Puerto Men’s Junior National Team that finished in fourth place at the 2012 U21 NORCECA Continental Championship.

Puerto Rico ended the 2016 FIVB World League in last place in Group 3, the lowest tier of competition, and moved to No. 28 in the FIVB World Rankings.

The country has never qualified for an Olympic berth in men’s volleyball.