Michigan Tech hires new assistant volleyball coach
Posted: 04.04.2012 at 2:58 PM
HOUGHTON -- (Courtesy of MTU Athletics) Michigan Tech head volleyball coach Matt Jennings has announced the hiring of Nicasio Pacquiz Jr. (NICK-ah-ZEE-O PAK-eez) as the program’s new assistant coach. Pacquiz brings 18 years of coaching experience to the Huskies, with stints in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Green Bay. He has worked at the NCAA Div. I level, elite level club teams and both girls and boys high school programs.
“I couldn’t be happier to have Nic with me here at Tech,” said Jennings. “He is truly one of the best all-around coaches I have worked with. With his addition, we just got better as a team.
“In terms of character, we couldn’t have a better person joining us in Houghton. With regards to teaching and coaching the game, well, his teams and players speak for themselves. Having coached together back home in Chicago, I am certain that we will work well together and give the team what it needs to succeed, the right way.”
Pacquiz arrives in Houghton from Chicago, where he was the head coach for the 18-Silver team at 1st Alliance Volleyball Club. 1st Alliance is considered one of the premier programs nationwide and Pacquiz’s team recently took first at the ultra-competitive Great Lakes Power League. He is well known in the national club volleyball scene, an asset sure to be valuable for Tech’s recruiting efforts.
In the fall of 2011, Pacquiz was an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay, a Div. I member of the Horizon League. While at Green Bay, Pacquiz primarily worked with defense, blocking systems and serve receive. Outside the gym, he assisted with all aspects of the program, including recruiting, travel, scouting, and film exchange.
Pacquiz’s other collegiate experience comes from DePaul University, a Div. I member of the Big East Conference which he spent alongside Jennings.
In addition to his time in the Midwest, Pacquiz has over nine years of coaching in Southern California an area known for its volleyball. Pacquiz served as head coach of the boy’s and girl’s teams at the Brentwood School in Los Angeles and the head coach of the Santa Monica Beach Volleyball Club.
Pacquiz graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998 with a degree in architectural studies and worked 11 years at the Landry Design Group in Los Angeles.