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Nathan Baker was tabbed by Director of Athletics E.
J. Brophy to continue the recent winning trends with
the UWA volleyball program. Baker becomes the 13th
head coach in the program’s 29 year history. Baker
comes to the Livingston campus after serving as head
coach at Tusculum College in Greenville, Tenn. He is
a native of Phil Campbell, Alabama in the
northwestern part of the state.
In two seasons as head coach of
the Pioneer volleyball program, he complied 48 wins
and finished his first season with 23 wins and
posted a program best 25 last season. The 23 wins in
2006 was a 14-win improvement from the prior season.
TC finished fourth in the Southern Athletic
Conference in 2006 with nine wins within the league;
the most SAC wins for the program since joining the
league in 1998. In 2007, the Pioneers surpassed the
previous SAC win total with 11 victories in
conference play. Last season, the Pioneers were led
by Vivian Lacy, the 2007 SAC Player of the Year
along with four All-SAC selections. TC ranked second
in the nation in blocks per game and ninth in
hitting percentage. He also orchestrated a match as
"Dig For the Cure", in which all of the proceeds and
funds raised went to breast cancer research.
Academically, a member of his team was named SAC
Scholar Athlete of the Year along with his team
being a recipient of the 2005-06 Game Plan/American
Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic
Award.
Prior to taking over the TC
program, Baker served as assistant coach at NCAA
Division I school Campbell University in Buies
Creek, N.C. from 2003-06. At Campbell, he assisted
with recruiting and travel coordinator along with
serving as academic coordinator for the volleyball
program. CU had a 12-win turn around in 2004 and
posted 14 wins in 2005 for the Atlantic Sun
Conference-affiliated school.
Baker began his collegiate
coaching career at Colorado Northwestern Community
College in Rangley, Co. He started the volleyball
program at CNCC in the Scenic West Athletic
Conference, known as one of the toughest junior
college leagues in the country. While at CNCC, he
also served as head softball coach at the school.
The volleyball squad posted a team grade point
average of 3.2 under the direction of Baker.
He spent time on the coaching
sidelines as a student assistant at Martin Methodist
College in Pulaski, Tenn., where he earned his
bachelors degree in human sciences from MMC. As a
member of the Redhawk staff, he learned the
fundamentals of the game under former Olympic and
professional player Rose Magers-Powell. Coach Powell
was a member of the 1984 US Olympic Volleyball team
that won the silver medal at the Los Angeles games,
the highest finish by an American team.
Baker is a member of the AVCA and
the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. He is
also active with community service efforts along
with American Cancer Society and an advocate for
youth volleyball.
He is married to the former
Jessica McDougal of Pulaski, Tenn. The couple has
two daughters; Emma and Morgan. |