The Eastern volleyball team is getting a fresh start.

It is getting a head coach with Alan Segal.

“We’re all really excited for a fresh start,” junior libero Shaina Boylan said.

Eastern athletic director Barbara Burke said in a press release Friday morning that Alan Segal will be the next head coach for the Panthers.

Segal will begin on Feb. 6.

“With a new coach, we have to let go of everything that’s happened in the past,” Boylan said.

Segal was hired after former Eastern head coach Lori Bennett resigned on Dec. 6.

He comes to Eastern after one season as an assistant coach at Alabama-Birmingham.

There he helped lead the Blazers to a 27-8 record and second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Boylan said the team met him during the interviewing process, and thinks he is well-qualified.

“I’m excited,” Segal said. “I just have to worry about what we’re doing.”

He is going to evaluate the team, start recruiting and wants to train the team better in the gym.

“You’ve got to make them successful there too,” Segal said.

He said he enjoyed his visit to Eastern and said he is excited to rebuild the program.

“We’re just excited,” said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith, who Segal worked under this past season. “It’s a great opportunity for Alan.”

Messersmith said Segal is a good technical coach.

He was good in the gym and helped a lot with the team’s blocking skills.

“He’s very level headed and a quick thinker,” Messersmith said.

The Panthers finished the 2008 season 5-24 overall and 2-16 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Panthers were 41-69 with a 22-48 mark in the OVC in the past four seasons. They have not made the OVC Tournament since the 2005 season, and they have not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2001.

The Panthers return all letter-winners except for two seniors and also have a verbal recruitment.

Segal spent nine seasons at Armstrong Atlantic, a Division II school. He led the Pirates to back-to-back Peach Belt Conference regular-season titles, the first two league volleyball titles in school history.

A three-time Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Segal compiled a 233-104 overall record at Armstrong Atlantic, making five straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances from 2000-05. In his first season at AASU he directed the program to 29 consecutive victories to open the season and finished the year with 36 wins.

Segal also served two seasons at the head coach at Michigan Tech, also a Division II school, winning 40 matches and earning a No. 23 national ranking in 1997. His career coaching record is 273-136.

He is a 1982 California State – Sacramento grad. Segal is also a veteran volleyball official having worked the National Junior College Championships in 1994 and 1995. He is entering his 21st season as an official on the AVP Professional Beach Tour.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

New Eastern volleyball head coach Alan Segal is slated to start Feb. 6. (Photo courtesy of University of Alabama-Birmingham Sports Information)

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