New UND volleyball coach ready to tap Midwest recruiting

6 days ago 2

Jan. 2—GRAND FORKS — When it comes to athletics, geography isn't always a benefit in attracting those outside the region to Grand Forks and UND.

For new UND volleyball coach David Nguyen, however, his move from New Jersey to North Dakota had a lot to do with location.

"Knowing that there's a really big hub in recruiting, that as a coach, kind of just threw green flags right away," said Nguyen, who made his first public comments in Grand Forks on Wednesday in the media room at Ralph Engelstad Arena. "The research I've done with my family — and family is a huge thing for me — it's making sure my family is in a good situation. Everything I've researched about Grand Forks and the Midwest, it's community is the first thing that comes up. That's really important for me, and I'm excited to be part of that."

As head coach, Nguyen brought Fairleigh Dickinson to the NCAA tournament in 2022 and won the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season championship in 2023.

Nguyen was named NEC coach of the year twice in four seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson. His teams went 9-5, 11-3, 11-3 and 12-4 in the NEC. Before his arrival, Fairleigh Dickinson went 3-11, 2-6, 3-13, 0-14, 1-13 and 1-13 in the NEC.

Nguyen wants to establish a base of recruiting within UND's traditional footprint.

"We will be strategic with our recruiting process, starting with the regional players within our area," Nguyen said. "My job is to make sure that we keep the North Dakota players that are quality players and quality for the culture. This whole recruiting process is going to be all over the place, but we do live in the hot bed of volleyball, so our focus will start with Minnesota, along with Wisconsin and Nebraska. There's going to be a lot of really good volleyball around this area for us to recruit."

Nguyen said UND's campus can be a recruiting tool.

"The campus is beautiful," he said. "I've done a lot of research, as well, so I'm able to see the campus while it's green. I'm excited for the area, and I'm excited to explore a little bit more, as well."

Nguyen will have a rebuilding project at UND. The Fighting Hawks have posted eight consecutive losing seasons as the program spiraled from a strong mid-major under Ashley Hardee (2009-13) and Mark Pryor (2014-18) to a floundering team in the Summit League.

UND, under previous head coach Jesse Tupac, went 7-20 and 4-12 in the Summit last season. It has not yet won a match at the Summit League tournament since joining the conference in 2018.

"We need to get this program back to where it used to be," Nguyen said. "I think we can get there. The support and everything that the university has given us, it's right there. It's right there for the taking, and we've just got to make sure that we move it in the right direction."

Nguyen said his successful teams at FDU were known for creativity.

"Position-less volleyball is kind of how I come at it," Nguyen said. "I like players that come in and have the ability to play multiple positions and are able to adapt to different things. I think that's what we've been successful at at my previous school, and I'm looking to do the same thing here at UND. I want to bring in players that are adaptable into different situations."

UND athletic director Bill Chaves and UND President Andrew Armacost were in attendance for Nguyen's initial press conference. Nguyen said when he received the call about landing the job, he couldn't believe it.

"I can't believe how far my family and I have come throughout this process," Nguyen said. "I started at the very bottom of the things, being a volunteer assistant, being a manager. Now, it's just like a big flagship school like UND is offering me a position ... I'm just grateful."

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