NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State Athletics Department announced today that former assistant Dave Albaugh has been elevated to the head coaching position for the Spartan volleyball program. He takes over those duties after spending the last six years as an assistant coach at NSU.
“We were fortunate for Coach Albaugh to be able to make arrangements to coach the women’s volleyball team next season,” said NSU Athletics Director Marty Miller. “I have been observing him over the past few years when he served as the assistant coach and was impressed with his teaching skills. He worked very hard on fundamentals, and I think that is essential in producing winning teams. We are looking forward to a great season for the women’s volleyball program next year.”
Albaugh previously played a key role in the recent advancement of the volleyball program. During his time with the Spartans, the team achieved its most success in 18 years in Division I. The first four years of his tenure as an assistant coach from 2010-13 marked the best four-year stretch since NSU moved up from Division II in 1997. All three of the program’s winning MEAC seasons occurred with Albaugh on the bench, including NSU’s most successful D-I season in 2012.
The Spartans ended that year 14-20 overall, 9-3 in the MEAC and in second place in the Northern Division. All three stand as the best achievements ever during the program’s D-I era. The Spartans also won a MEAC tournament match for the first time in 13 years.
Albaugh becomes the program’s sixth different head coach during the D-I era.
“I would like to thank NSU Athletics Director Mr. Miller, University President Eddie N. Moore, and the entire athletic department for their confidence in me to lead Norfolk State’s volleyball program,” said Albaugh, who worked with players throughout the spring during the transition. “I am excited for the opportunity to help current and future Spartans to be the best they can both on the court and in the classroom.
“Mr. Miller and his staff have been extremely helpful with the transition from the assistant position into the head coaching position. Being here for the past six years has made the move very smooth. I could not be more pleased with the way the team has taken the news of my appointment. I am anxious to continue working to take the program to new heights.”
In just his first season with the Spartans in 2010, he helped turn the program around to earn, at the time, the most overall (13) and conference wins (5-3) since NSU’s last year in the D-II CIAA in 1996. NSU also posted 11 wins overall and a 7-5 conference mark in 2013. Together with the 2010 and ’12 seasons, Albaugh has been a part of the program’s three winningest overall seasons in its D-I history.
In addition, four of the program’s five all-time all-MEAC honorees came during Albaugh’s six-year stretch as an assistant coach.
Prior to joining NSU, he gained numerous years of experience working at both the high school and junior Olympic levels in the Hampton Roads area. He was named the Virginia State Coach of the Year in 2008 during his eight-year stint as the head boys’ volleyball coach at Great Bridge HS.
He won Coach of the Year honors for the Southeastern District in 2002, ‘04, ‘05, ‘08 and ’09 after leading Great Bridge to the district title each of those five seasons. His squads also captured Eastern Regional Championships in 2002 and ’09, with the ’02 squad finishing as the state runner-up in Albaugh’s first year with the program.
In 2012, Albaugh coached the Coastal Virginia U-18 Volleyball Club to a ninth-place finish at the AAU National Championship. His club volleyball squads have been annually ranked among the best along the entire East Coast.
Albaugh competed at Shippensburg University, where he graduated with a degree in secondary education social studies in 1994.
He replaces previous head coach Brandon Duvall, who led the Spartans for six years before being let go following the 2015 campaign.