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Add one more prestigious honor to the Hall of Fame career of retired Ohio State coach Pete Hanson.
A nationwide voting committee selected Hanson as the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball National Coach of the Decade that was announced Thursday on Off the Block.
Hanson in 2011 guided the Buckeyes to the program’s first NCAA championship and then to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2016 and 2017. The three national championships were the most of any team in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball this decade.
Hanson earlier this year following his 35th season with Ohio State announced his retirement and concluded his tenure as the winningest coach in program history with 700 career victories.
The Buckeyes since 2010 have seven seasons with at least 20 wins and a cumulative record of 216-85. In addition, Ohio State set a MIVA record winning 42 consecutive matches from 2016-17 and that included sweeping BYU in the 2016 NCAA Tournament finals.
The voting committee for the National Coach of the Decade was comprised of volleyball coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation.
The top-three vote-getters were selected finalists, while the individual with the most votes was named the overall award winner. A tie in the voting resulted in four finalists for the award.
Hanson received 37 votes — more votes than all three other finalists had combined.
Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe finished in second place with 18 votes after leading his program to consecutive NCAA championships the last two seasons. Both former Loyola coach Shane Davis and John Speraw, who coached at UC Irvine for taking over at UCLA, tied for third place.
Off the Block coordinated the National All-Decade Awards. Along with the National Coach of the Decade, Off the Block presented the National Player of the Decade, the National Team of the Decade, National Program of the Decade and the National All-Decade Teams.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that was established in 2011 and is the nation’s leader college men’s volleyball coverage.
National Coach of the Decade voting results
1. Pete Hanson, Ohio State — 37 votes
2. Alan Knipe, Long Beach State — 18 votes
T-3. Shane Davis, Loyola — 5 votes
T-3. John Speraw, UC Irvine and UCLA — 5 votes
T-5. Dan Friend, Lewis — 3 votes
T-5. Charlie Wade, Hawai’i — 3 votes