Honors Pile Up For Emmanuel's Coach Wright

HYANNIS, Mass. - After being selected the 2010 Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year for both the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA), Emmanuel Head Coach Chris Wright received NECVA's 2010 David Hildebrandt Rising Star Award. Wright led the Saints to a program-record 27 wins this season. His squad advanced to the finals of the GNAC Tournament and made the program's third NECVA Tournament appearance in four years.

The David Hildebrandt Rising Star Award, established in 2009, is named in honor of former Newbury College Head Coach David Hildebrandt, the 2008 NECVA New England Division Coach of the Year, who passed away on August 3, 2008. Paul Dill, the head coach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the inaugural honoree in April of 2009.

This award is presented to a head or assistant coach, who best exemplifies the attributes for which Coach Hildebrandt was known. The deserving award winner has elevated a program during their tenure at their institution or has shown marked improvement; Has shown an ability to recruit and build a program with a loyal player base; Has demonstrated knowledge of the sport; Has displayed an excellent working relationship with players, administrators and NECVA officials; Is respected by fellow coaches; Has worked to promote and better the sport at the Division III level while helping to generate new programs; May have only coached for ten or fewer seasons in men's collegiate volleyball.

Coach Wright easily embodies all of the above-mentioned characteristics. In his fifth season at the helm of the Emmanuel program, Wright bettered his team's record in each of his season's coached at Emmanuel. He led the Saints to a program-record for wins in 2009 with 19 victories. Wright's 2010 squad crushed that mark, winning 27 matches and defeating a myriad of top 15 programs during the season.

In the April 6th American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III poll, the Saints were ranked 13th nationally. Emmanuel held its national ranking throughout much of the 2010 season, and the Saints were ranked in the top 10 in the country for three-straight weeks. Wright and the Saints have certainly made their mark nationally this season. It is important to note that Wright is a part-time head coach at Emmanuel. All of his counterparts at the other nationally-ranked programs are employed full-time by their respective institutions, making Wright's achievements this season even more remarkable.

A strong advocate for his student-athletes, Wright's team players also collected numerous individual honors throughout the season. Five Emmanuel players received GNAC All-Conference recognition and several Saints were ranked nationally in various statistical categories. Wright's players were also stellar in the classroom, as six were named to the NECVA All-Academic Team. Emmanuel was also awarded the NECVA Team Academic Award, as the Saints combined for a cumulative 3.13 grade point average this year.

The 2011 season promises to be an exciting one for Emmanuel. Despite losing two four-year starters and Emmanuel record holders (Michael Townsend and Taylor Lowe) to graduation this May, Coach Wright has pounded the recruiting trail over the past several years and will return a solid core of 15 veterans for the 2011 campaign.

*Courtesy of Emmanuel College Athletic Communications