UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Brent Crouch

Gold Medal For Brent Crouch

Crouch_Brent-web copyPortland Pilots head volleyball coach Brent Crouch led the USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team to a gold medal last week at the U22 Global Challenge, held in Pula, Croatia. They defeated China in the finals to claim the 12th annual European Global Challenge Championship. The team also defeated England and Slovenia on the way to the title. The Global Challenge began in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a modest volleyball tournament with a few foreign teams. Today, it has grown to a 32-team international invitational featuring top teams in u17 and u22 divisions from around the world.

For more information contact athletics at 7117 or go to portlandpilots.com.

Pilot Athletics News

SollarsMark your Calendars for Saturday, March 1 and make plans to join the Pilots and other fans to wish women’s basketball coach Jim Sollars a happy retirement. Sollars has announced that this season, his 28th, will be his final year as the head coach for the Pilots. Let’s give Coach Sollars the send-off he deserves at his final game, Pilots vs. Saint Mary’s, on March 1 at 2 p.m. in the Chiles Center.

The women’s basketball team returns to the Chiles Center this week for two home West Coast Conference Games, hosting San Francisco on Thursday at 7 p.m., and Santa Clara on Saturday at 1 p.m. For more information, please visit Portlandpilots.com. For tickets, visit the Pilots Box Office or call 7525.

Pilots athletic director Scott Leykam announ­ced last Thursday that Brent Crouch has been named as head coach of the University of Portland volleyball program. Crouch has spent the last four seasons at Saint Mary’s College, most recently serving as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for the indoor program and head coach of the sand volleyball program. For more information contact athletics at 7117 or go to www.portlandpilots.com.

New Volleyball Coach Hired

crouch copyBrent Crouch has been named head coach of the University of Portland volleyball program, according to Pilots athletics director Scott Leykam. Crouch spent the last four seasons at Saint Mary’s College, most recently serving as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for the indoor program and head coach of their sand volleyball program. Crouch served as head coach of the men’s volleyball team at San Diego City College from 2006-08, and was also the head coach of the University of Oregon’s club men’s volleyball team, helping the Ducks finish 15th in the nation in Division 1-AA in 2005.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1998 from Texas A&M and earned his master’s in philosophy from Texas A&M in 2000. Crouch went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophy from Oregon in 2006 and has held various teaching positions at Oregon, San Diego City College, and Saint Mary’s since 2000. For more information contact athletics at 7117 or go to www.portlandpilots.com.