John Speraw Named AVCA National Coach of the Year
May 02, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
FAIRFAX, Va. – UCLA men's volleyball head coach John Speraw was named 2023 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Men's Division I/II National Coach of the Year in an announcement on Tuesday. Speraw has led his Bruin team to a 29-2 record this season and UCLA was awarded the No. 1 seed into the NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship. The Bruins will begin play in the championship tournament on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT against the winner of an Opening Match between Grand Canyon and Long Beach State.
The honor marks the second time in his career that Speraw has been recognized as the AVCA Men's Division I/II National Coach of the Year. He also won the award in 2006 after leading UC Irvine to its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) title, a school-record 21 consecutive wins, a trip to the NCAA Semifinals and to the top of the weekly coaches poll for eight weeks.
In 2023, the Bruins have led the nation for the second straight season in hitting percentage (.381) while earning the top seed into the national championship tournament. UCLA's total of 29 wins on the year is the most by a Bruin team since 2000 when UCLA posted a 29-5 record. Speraw guided the squad to the program's first unbeaten regular-season MPSF record (12-0) since it went 19-0 in the 1995 season during which he was a Bruin player. UCLA went on to capture the 2023 MPSF Tournament title for the first time since 2006. Speraw was named the 2023 MPSF Coach of the Year following a 3-0 win in the championship match at Stanford which was the team's 20th sweep of the season, the most since the 1998 squad won a like number. This season's two losses are the fewest by a Bruin team since the 1995 squad posted a 31-1 mark on its way to the national title. Earlier this season, Speraw achieved milestone wins No. 400 overall and No. 200 while head coach at UCLA during back-to-back games against UC Irvine. Seven Bruins were saluted as All-America selections in yesterday's announcement which is the most in program history, including freshman Andrew Rowan who became UCLA's first AVCA Newcomer of the Year winner since Brandon Taliaferro in 1997.
Speraw is the first individual to win an NCAA men's volleyball championship as a head coach (2007, 2009 and 2012 at UC Irvine), an assistant coach (1996, 1998, 2000 at UCLA) and as a player (1993 and 1995 at UCLA). He has guided the Bruins to the NCAA Semifinals in 2023, the NCAA Semifinals in 2022, the National Championship match in 2018 and the NCAA Semifinals in 2016. He will enter the 2023 Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship with a 413-203 overall collegiate record and a mark of 214-92 while head coach at UCLA.
Named head coach at UCLA in June of 2012, Speraw has tutored 53 All-Americans in his career. He came to UCLA from UC Irvine where he led the Anteaters to three NCAA titles, two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) regular season titles (2006, 2009) and a pair of MPSF Tournament crowns (2007, 2012). He guided UCI to a 199-106 record in his ten seasons.
Speraw has also enjoyed an extensive coaching resume with the U.S. Men's National Volleyball team where he currently serves as Head Coach. After serving as Assistant Coach for the 2008 (Gold in Beijing) and 2012 Olympic Games (advanced to the quarterfinals at London), Speraw was elevated to Head Coach of the U.S. Men's Volleyball National Team in March of 2013. The U.S. qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games by winning the 2015 World Cup competition and went on to capture the Bronze medal at the Rio Games. In the summer of 2018, Speraw directed the U.S. Men's National Team to its first FIVB World Championship medal in 24 years when it beat Serbia for the bronze in Turin, Italy. In December of 2021, he signed on to remain as the U.S. National Team coach through the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
