Central Arkansas Notes

Page 6

TEXAS TECH VOLLEYBALL

FLORA AGAINST THE NCAA NON-CONFERENCE Binghamton______________________________1-0 Boston College____________________________1-0 Cal State Northridge________________________0-1 Central Arkansas___________________________1-0 Connecticut______________________________1-0 Fordham_________________________________1-0 Furman__________________________________1-0 Grambling State___________________________2-0 Houston Baptist___________________________1-0 Louisiana-Lafayette________________________1-0 Louisiana Tech____________________________1-0 Montana_________________________________1-0 Morehead State___________________________1-0 Nevada__________________________________0-1 New Mexico______________________________1-0 North Texas_______________________________2-0 Northwestern State________________________2-0 Prairie View A&M__________________________1-0 Rice_____________________________________0-1 San Jose State_____________________________1-1 Siena____________________________________1-0 Southeastern Louisiana_____________________1-0 Texas-Pan Amerian_________________________2-0 Towson__________________________________0-1 UT Arlington______________________________1-0 Overall_________________________________25-6 BIG 12 CONFERENCE Baylor___________________________________1-1 Iowa State________________________________0-2 Kansas___________________________________0-3 Kansas State______________________________0-2 Missouri_________________________________0-2 Oklahoma________________________________0-2 TCU_____________________________________0-2 Texas____________________________________0-3 Texas A&M________________________________0-2 West Virginia______________________________0-0 Overall________________________________ 1-18* * Includes Missouri and Texas A&M who were both Big 12 Conference members in 2011. Also does not include the TCU match from 2011.

MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS At the United Spirit Arena___________________8-6 On the road______________________________7-13 Neutral Site______________________________11-2 In a tournament setting____________________18-1 On television______________________________0-4 Against ranked opponents__________________0-5 Against top 5 teams________________________0-0 Against top 10 teams_______________________0-2 In three set matches______________________14-13 In four set matches_________________________7-5 In five set matches_________________________5-4 On Monday_______________________________3-0 On Tuesday_______________________________1-1 On Wednesday____________________________0-9 On Friday________________________________10-2 On Saturday____________________________12-11 6

TEXAS TECH VOLLEYBALL

Don Flora Head Coach 2nd Season University of La Verne ‘90, ‘00 Career Record: 295-83 (12) At Tech: 26-24 (2) @CoachFloraTTU

I

n only one season as the head volleyball coach at Texas Tech, Don Flora has already revitalized a once storied program.

Flora was named the eighth volleyball coach in school history on Jan. 7, 2011, and immediately hit the ground running, leading the Red Raiders to a 15-17 record, the program’s most victories since 2001. It also marked the third-largest win differential in the country (+11) from the 2010 to 2011 season after inheriting a program that was just 4-25 the year before. Not bad for a first-year head coach who inherited a program that had only won 11 matches over its previous three seasons combined. Flora led the Red Raiders to that total in only his second month. Flora is 295-82 in 12-plus total seasons as a collegiate head coach as he remains one of the winningest active coaches with 10 years of experience at any level of NCAA play. In his 12 seasons as a head coach, Flora’s only other losing season came during his inaugural campaign at the University of La Verne (Calif.) when the Leopards similarly finished just two matches below .500 with a 12-14 mark. Flora led La Verne to 20 or more wins in nine of his next 10 seasons. The California native will look to do the same at Texas Tech as he enters the 2012 season, his second on the South Plains, with a young roster composed of 10 newcomers coming mainly from his first true recruiting class that spanned the Western Hemisphere as well as the state of Texas. Flora and his staff traveled to Canada to sign setter Emily Ruetter and then reached the Midwest with the addition of Brianna Grant out of Illinois and Meghan Stacy from Missouri. He also stayed close to home with the signing of Emily Ehrle from Crowley, Texas, who was the first of five other true freshmen to join the program. Red Raider fans took notice in only his first year as Tech averaged more than 800 fans in 2011, around a 15 percent increase from the year before. Tech broke the 1,000 fan mark three times, including a season high 1,413 on Nov. 9 against No. 8 Texas that was the largest announced attendance since 1,468 fans saw the Red Raiders face top-ranked Nebraska. Flora came to Tech following a two-year stint as an assistant coach at New Mexico State where the Aggies, consistently one of the top programs nationally, compiled a 38-22 record. Flora was responsible for recruiting activities, practice instruction and game strategy and was involved in the daily development of the overall program under head coach Mike Jordan. La Verne posted at least 20 wins in nine-straight seasons beginning in 2000 as the Leopards claimed ninestraight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) titles. During Flora’s tenure, the Leopards were 140-10 in SCIAC matches, boasting an impressive .933 winning percentage helped in part by five undefeated 14-0 campaigns in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008. As the success kept building early in Flora’s tenure, so did the achievements at the national level. In only Flora’s fourth season, the Leopards wrapped a near-perfect 27-1 season with the 2001 NCAA Division III National Title, the second in school history. The title run earned Flora the Division III National Coach of the Year honor by both the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and Volleyball Magazine. He was also named the AVCA West Region Coach of the Year, an award he was presented three more times following the 2003, 2005, and 2008 seasons. With a national title under his belt, Flora’s success kept rolling as the Leopards eventually posted their first 30-win season in 2003, which began a streak of three-straight seasons where La Verne advanced to the NCAA Final Four. The Leopards posted a school-record 33 wins a season later. The Leopards posted 27 wins in each of Flora’s final three seasons at the school, which culminated in another national title match appearance in 2008. Unlike 2001, however, La Verne was topped in the championship, falling to Emory in four sets. Flora graduated with a degree in social sciences from La Verne in 1990 before later returning to the classroom to earn his masters in the Leadership and Management curriculum in 2000. Flora, a native of Covina, Calif., and his wife, Jeanne, currently reside in Lubbock with their two daughters, Annika and Alexis. @TECHATHLETICS


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