Volleyball Head Coach Paco Labrador Wins 200th Career Match

Head Coach Paco Labrador talks strategy with Assistant Coach Brittany Baume

Springfield, Ohio — It was no ordinary celebration following the Wittenberg volleyball team's 3-0 win at Denison on Friday, Oct. 31. Not only did the Tigers put the finishing touches on another tremendous regular season with records of 30-2 overall and 16-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), Head Coach Paco Labrador reached an individual milestone by capturing the 200th win of his career.

Labrador is in just his sixth year leading the Tigers, but in that time he has elevated the program into the upper echelon of NCAA Division III. Wittenberg has consistently ranked in the top five nationally in recent years as Labrador has guided the Tigers to a remarkable record of 200-26 heading into the NCAC Tournament Nov. 7-8 at Wittenberg.

His winning percentage of .876 ranked No. 1 among active NCAA Division III women's volleyball coaches with five or more years of experience going into the 2008 season. It has improved to .885 as the Tigers have won 30 of 32 matches so far in 2008 in hopes of reaching their fourth straight NCAA Division III Tournament semifinals.

"Reaching 200 wins in a career as a head coach is a testimony to having a great supporting staff around you and great players who are willing to put in the time and effort to be successful," said Labrador, who spent five years as an assistant at Miami (Ohio) before arriving at Wittenberg prior to the 2003 season. "You have to have good people around you to make something like this happen.

"It feels great to reach this milestone with such a great group of student-athletes and coaches."

The fifth-ranked Tigers have secured the opportunity to host both the 2008 NCAC Tournament and the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Tournament. Wittenberg, which has won 51 straight NCAC regular season games while securing three straight 16-0 records, hopes to win a second straight NCAC Tournament title - and the 11th in the last 12 years, starting in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 7.

The regional tourney, which Wittenberg has won five times in the last six years, is set for Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 13-15. The winner advances to the national quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 20, at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Brad Tucker

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