| Jason Smith
Volleyball - Head Coach
Email: Jason Smith
Jason Smith returned this past June to begin his second stint at the helm of the Matador Volleyball program, and looks to improve on the great success he enjoyed the first time around. Smith has spent the last two seasons as the lead assistant for the Lady Rebels’ Volleyball team, helping lead the Lady Rebs to a 16-win season during his first year there. This is the second time that Smith has left an NCAA Division I (and Mountain West Conference) program to come to the winning volleyball tradition at AWC, since he first came to AWC four years ago after spending three seasons in Salt Lake City, Utah as the recruiting coordinator and assistant volleyball coach at the University of Utah. When Smith arrived for his first head coaching stint at AWC in 2006, he inherited a very successful Matadors’ program-but one that needed a boost in the level of talent. Smith worked his numerous contacts to bring in a bumper crop of future stars, and despite still being a bit undermanned, Smith led the young, inexperienced 2006 Lady Matadors’ Volleyball squad to the school’s 7th straight Region I Volleyball title and a berth in the District A Finals against top-10 national power Salt Lake Community College. Despite the initial success, Smith didn’t relax at all that off-season, importing more top talent, and the ’07 Matadors won their first ACCAC Volleyball regular season title since 2004 and their 8th straight Region I Championship. The Lady Matadors’ quest for their first NJCAA Tournament berth fell just short in the District A Championship Game against the top team in the nation, Salt Lake, but their 26-9 overall mark was their best record since 2004. Smith’s overall coaching record at AWC is an extremely impressive mark of 46 wins and 27 losses, with a 27-9 record in conference play. Smith’s attention to detail was even more emphasized off the court, since both of his volleyball squads were named to the NJCAA Fall Academic Team of the Year lists, earning the honor by having a cumulative 3.0 grade point average or higher. Before first arriving at AWC, Smith’s recruiting classes at the University of Utah were some of the best anywhere. During his tenure, the Utes won the Mountain West Conference twice, and his ’04-’05 recruiting class was rated 8th-best in the nation. Smith came to Utah from NCAA Division II Ferris State, where as an assistant, he helped lead them to 2 20-win seasons and an NCAA Division II Tournament bid. Smith has also been an assistant at Iowa Western CC when they finished 10th in the NJCAA Tournament, and got his coaching start as an assistant and head coach at NAIA school Avila College. He’s also been a volunteer statistician for the United States men’s national volleyball team. Smith’s playing days were spent in Iowa at Graceland University, where he was a three-time all-region selection and played on several regional championship teams. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in business and economics while at Graceland.
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