If such a degree program had been offered, Jeff Hall would have majored in volleyball at the University of the Pacific. Instead, he played collegiately for the Tigers, likely not realizing that he also was racking up credits for what would lead to an unofficial master’s in coaching.
The 43-year-old now appears to be working on his doctorate, an accelerated program at Hawaii that — four days after moving from the men’s indoor team to both the women’s indoor and sand teams — had Hall in California recruiting for the Rainbow Wahine. Back after the holiday weekend, Hall changed surfaces and was at the SandBows’ practice on the new campus courts at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex.
"The transition has been fun for me," said Hall, whose pro playing background includes several years on the AVP Tour. "It’s a little different, going from being in the gym with the UH guys to watching 16-year-old girls playing club volleyball in Los Angeles.
"But it’s still volleyball. I’m super excited about the sand season. Two weeks in and I already know we have an awesome team. They work hard, they’re talented. It’s a very fortunate situation to walk into and I thank Scott (Wong) for that."
Wong resigned his dual duties as associate indoor and head sand coach at Hawaii for the head indoor job at his alma mater, Pepperdine, earlier this month. The SandBows were successful from the start of the sport’s inception, sending two pairs to the AVCA Collegiate Championships in 2012 and finishing third nationally last season.
Hawaii, ranked fourth in the DiG preseason poll, returns nine from last season’s 20-4 team, including three of four All-Americans in senior Brittany Tiegs, junior Katie Spieler and sophomore Nikki Taylor. Tiegs teamed with the graduated Karissa Cook to finish second in the AVCA Pairs National Championship, while Spieler and Taylor were eliminated in the national quarterfinals.
Hall also inherited a tough RPI-boosting schedule, opening on March 6 with dual matches against No. 5 Loyola Marymount followed by defending champion and preseason No. 1 Pepperdine. Other home matches include No. 3 USC, No. 17 Nebraska and No. 18 Grand Canyon and away competition at the USAV events in Chula Vista, Calif., and Hermosa Beach, Calif., and at the Santa Clara-San Francisco Tournament.
For the third and final time, the national championship will be in Gulf Shores, Ala. Beginning in 2016, the NCAA will sanction sand volleyball as a collegiate championship sport.
Wong’s goal had been to see Hawaii become the permanent home for the NCAA sand championship. Hall said he’d like to push that agenda.
"Sand volleyball, arguably, was invented in Hawaii," he said. "I think it would be awesome to have the championship here.
"Scott did a great job in so many areas, the players, the high-RPI schedule, the successful fundraising that allows us to bring in high-caliber teams and that staff that I now have. Michelle (assistant Meyer) and Danny (volunteer coach Alvarez) have done a great job.
"The program is kind of on auto-pilot. It’s been successful and you want to perpetuate that legacy. I’m hoping to complement what’s been done and let the pieces around me work."
The players said the transition to a new coach hasn’t been hard.
"He has the (sand) experience and he loves beach volleyball," Tiegs said. "He has that same passion we have."
"It hasn’t been hard," said Taylor, one of five indoor players crossing over to sand. "We’re all open to what he expects."
The pairings have not been decided as Hall evaluates chemistry. One possibility would be to have the 5-foot-9 Tiegs partner with the 6-3 Taylor.
"I’ve never played with anyone that tall," said Tiegs, a sand All-American at Florida State before transfering to Hawaii. "I’ll have to work on my defense if that happens."
Hall has coached women previously, when he was the indoor assistant at UC San Diego for the women’s and men’s teams. The past seven years has been spent solely on the men’s side, but as he said, volleyball is volleyball.
"I think having my wife and two daughters helps," Hall said of coaching a different gender. "I was raised by my mom and two older sisters. My mother did a good job at raising a gentleman.
"I’m going to push and coach them like I would a guy. But sometimes you got to work on the delivery."
DiG Collegiate Sand Volleyball Preseason Poll: 1. Pepperdine. 2 Florida. 3. USC. 4. Hawaii. 5. Loyola Marymount. 6. Long Beach State. 7. Saint Mary’s. 8. UCLA. 9. Florida International. 10. Pacific. 11. Georgia State. 12. Stanford. 13. Stetson. 14. North Florida. 15. Tulane. 16. Arizona. 17. Nebraska. 18. Santa Clara. 19. Grand Canyon. 20. Louisiana Monroe.
