www.UNHWildcats.com Head Coach Jill Hirschinger
HEAD COACH JILL HIRSCHINGER HIRSCHINGER YEAR-BY-YEAR
Jill Hirschinger, a four-time America East Coach of the Year, enters her 15th season as head coach of the University of New Hampshire volleyball program, marking her 32nd season as a head volleyball coach. Hirschinger was named the head coach of the Wildcat 12-26-5 .337 volleyball program in the spring of 1996 by former athletic director Judy Ray, in the second 1979• season that UNH regained its varsity status. In her 15 years at UNH, she has become the 1980• 12-21-3 .375 program’s winningest coach and the first to surpass the 200-win milestone as she currently 1981• 25-16-2 .605 has 230 victories. Not to mention she has guided the Wildcats to 20-win seasons six times 16-14 .533 during her tenure in Durham. Hirschinger earned her 200th career win at UNH when the 1982• team captured a 3-1 win over Southern Methodist University in the deciding match of the 1983• 14-13 .519 UNH Tournament on Sept. 15, 2007. 1984∞ 48-3 .941 Hirschinger has spent the past 32 seasons as a head coach at both the Division I 33-10 .767 and II levels. She has accumulated an impressive 639-444-10 overall record, owning a .589 1985∞ winning percentage. Hirschinger’s 639 career-coaching victories rank her 12th on the all- 1986∞ 33-7 .825 time active NCAA wins list. She reached the 600 win plateau in the second-to-last match of 1987∞ 40-9 .816 the regular season in 2006 with a 3-2 win over America East rival Binghamton on Nov. 11 at 19-18 .514 Lundholm Gym. She also coached a pair of All-American honorable mentions (Aly Coler and 1988∞ Beth Cole) during her tenure at UNH. 1989∞ 30-7 .818 Last season Hirschinger took a young Wildcat team, which struggled out of the gate 1990∞ 36-6 .857 and developed a formidable team that rattled off wins in its final four, and five of the last six regular season matches. The ‘Cats 24-17 .585 surged from out of the playoff hunt to becoming the second seed in the tournament, falling to eventual champion Binghamton 1991∞ in the America East semifinals. 1992∞ 26-14 .650 Hirschinger won the 2003 America East Coach of the Year after guiding the program to its second-straight confer- 1993∞ 18-16 .529 ence championship with a 23-12 overall record and a 12-2 mark in conference play. UNH faced No. 1- and eventual national 1994∞ 10-25 .286 champion- Southern California in the team’s third appearance in the NCAA Tournament under Coach Hirschinger. In 2002, Hirschinger guided the ’Cats to a 23-11 overall record and the team earned its second America East title in 1995∞ 13-19 .406 school history, along with the second NCAA Tournament berth in UNH history. The Wildcats fell to Big Ten champion Minnesota 1996¶ 6-26 .188 in four games, becoming the first team in America East to win a game in the NCAA Tournament since the NCAA went to a 641997¶ 23-10 .697 team format. In 1998, Hirschinger led UNH to a 24-11 overall record with a perfect 14-0 mark in America East action. The Wildcats 1998¶ 24-11 .685 had a banner season, defeating conference rival Hofstra for the school’s first-ever America East championship and first appear- 1999¶ 24-12 .667 ance in the NCAA Tournament against the nationally ranked University of Arkansas. The Wildcats tallied the second-most wins 23-11 .676 in school history with 24 (26 in 1980). Hirschinger also earned America East Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, while 2000¶ several players garnered all-conference awards. She also guided the ‘Cats to a school-record 14 consecutive wins in 1998. 2001¶ 18-9 .667 Hirschinger took over the Wildcat program in 1996, when the team was in just its second year at the Division I var- 2002¶ 23-11 .676 sity level since 1984. She led the young team to a 6-26 overall record, which included victories in four of the Wildcats’ final six 2003¶ 23-12 .657 matches. Hirschinger recorded her 500th career coaching victory Oct. 15, 2000 vs. Drexel and she posted her 100th career vic- 2004¶ 9-20 .310 tory at UNH on Nov. 18, 2000 vs. Northeastern in the America East semifinal match. 2005¶ 7-20 .259 She was appointed to the 17-member AVCA Board of Directors in May of 2005. Hirschinger also serves as Chair for 11-16 .407 the AVCA All-America committees. Hirschinger will serve on the regional ranking advisory committee for the NCAA. She served 2006¶ three years as the Senior Women’s Administrator in UNH’s Athletic Department from 2001-2004. 2007¶ 19-9 .678 Before coming to Durham, Hirschinger spent the previous 12 seasons at Ferris State University, located in Big Rapids, 2008¶ 7-21 .250 Mich. Hirschinger registered 11 winning seasons and ended her stay at Ferris as the winningest coach in Bulldog history with a 13-15 .464 330-151 (.686) overall record. She led FSU to seven Division II postseason playoff appearances and recorded a milestone 400th 2009¶ victory in that span. Hirschinger was named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year (GLIAC) on four TOTALS 639-444-10 .589 occasions, regional Coach of the Year three times, and led the Bulldogs to an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1987 and Elite • at Drake University Eight appearance in 1989. She also coached nine All-Americans and two academic All-Americans while coaching the Bulldogs. Hirschinger also owns the NCAA record with 46 consecutive wins, while at FSU. In addition to her coaching duties at Ferris State, ∞ at Ferris State University Hirschinger served as an Assistant Athletic Director and was in charge of NCAA compliance at the school. She was a member of ¶ at UNH the NCAA Division II national volleyball committee, and also served on the All-America and National Golf Committees. Hirschinger was inducted into the FSU Athletic Hall of Fame in the summer of 2008. Prior to her arrival at Ferris State, Hirschinger beACTIVE NCAA VICTORIES LIST gan her collegiate volleyball coaching career at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. During her five Coach, School Yrs. Wins year stint at Drake, she guided the NCAA Division I program to two appearances at the U.S. Volleyball 1. Dave Shoji, Hawaii 35 1,016 Association’s National Tournament and an Iowa Division I state title. She compiled a 79-90-10 (.469) re2. Russ Rose, Penn State 31 1,001 cord during her tenure at Drake. 3. Mike Hebert, Minnesota 33 866 A 1979 graduate of Utah State University, Hirschinger compiled an impressive athletic re4. Kathy Gregory, UC Santa Barbara 35 831 sume during her collegiate career, excelling in volleyball, garnering all-conference, all-region and team 5. Mick Haley, Southern California 25 748 captain recognition while helping the Aggies 6. John Dunning, Stanford 24 699 claim the AIAW Division I national champion7. Karen Chisum, Texas State 29 697 ship and Collegiate Classic North America Cup championship in 1978. Hirschinger was also a 8. Mary Wise, Florida 22 684 standout in track and field, qualifying nationally 9. Brian Gimmillaro, Long Beach State 24 678 (1976-79) in the javelin and placing 10th in 1977. 10. Bob Bertucci, Temple 30 661 She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in 11. Matt Peck, Middle Tennessee 26 657 Physical Education at Utah State. In the winter 12. Jill Hirschinger, New Hampshire 31 639 of 2008, Hirschinger and the rest of the 1978 Na13. Judy Green, Alabama 24 622 tional Championship team were inducted into the Utah State Athletic Hall of Fame. Born in West Allis, Wis., Hirschinger graduated from West Allis Central High School and attended New Mexico State University for one year. A two-sport athlete at New Mexico State, she led her team to a 10th-place finish at the National Volleyball Championships in 1975.
3x NCAA TOURNAMENT ~ UNIV. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLLEYBALL ~ 3x AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONS