Men's Volleyball Plays Host to Jim Coleman Memorial Tournament

• Tournament Bracket

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio-- The Wittenberg University men's volleyball team will host the Jim Coleman Memorial Tournament, beginning Jan. 29 in the Pam Evans Smith Arena.

     Nine teams will be attending the tournament with Carthage and Juniata to be most notable among them. After going undefeated in last weekend's opening home matches, the Jim Coleman Memorial Tournament is an opportunity to keep up the Tigers' momentum in this inaugural season.

• JIM COLEMAN

           The tournament has been named in honor of Wittenberg alumnus Jim Coleman, member of International Volleyball Hall of Fame and Wittenberg Athletic Hall of Honor. During this lifetime, Coleman coached the United States national men's volleyball team and took part in seven Olympic games.

            The Tigers will honor him within their games throughout the tournament, according to Coach Evan Amstutz.

            "His impact on the game is seen worldwide, " Amstutz said. "We wanted to remember him with a tournament of top-quality volleyball."

     Jim Coleman was inducted into Wittenberg's athletic hall of honor based on a career which started in Springfield as a child and blossomed during his four years as a student at Wittenberg. After he was introduced to the sport of volleyball during his formative years, Coleman brought it to Wittenberg as a student and later as a professor at the university.

     Married to Lee Doellman Coleman, class of 1958 and a 1988 inductee into Wittenberg's Athletics Hall of Honor, Jim Coleman served three stints as the United States National Team's head coach and was involved in the program through most of a 35-year span.

     He coached in seven Olympic Games, helping the USA Men's Volleyball team to gold medals in 1984 and 1988, and he is credited with visionary leadership in the sport itself, teaming with his wife to create statistical systems and the net antennae used in today's competition. 

     Coleman was one of the founders of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) in 1961, a league that now features some of the top NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's programs in the country. Wittenberg competed in the MIVA in 1961 and 1962 before Coleman moved on to the first of several NCAA Division I college coaching positions. 

• HISTORIC WEEKEND

     The Tigers are working their way to top quality as well. At their opening tournament last weekend, they defeated Olivet, Adrian, and Hilbert, taking each match in three sets.

            "Last weekend helped us start to develop some chemistry, but we have to raise our level even higher to be competitive this weekend," said Nathan Matthews, a freshman from Gahanna, Ohio.

            Matthews is a player to watch this weekend, having led the team with five digs at the Wittenberg quad, along with teammate Joel Sotos. In addition to his five digs, Sotos led the team in kills and service aces with 15 and five, respectively.

            "Last weekend was truly thrilling," Sotos said. "It gave me a sense of the greatness we can do here at Wittenberg.  The Jim Coleman tournament will be much more of a challenge. Having said that, I think our team will learn how hard we really need to work."

            The Tigers will play their first game of the tournament against Cal Lutheran on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Written By: Stephanie Glass