The University of Saint Mary recently hired Conan Salanoa to head the volleyball program. It is Salanoa’s first head coaching position at a university after he spent time on the University of Missouri-Kansas City bench last season as an assistantcoach/defensive coordinator. With the assistant position as well as several years as head coach in club volleyball under his belt, Salanoa said he feels very prepared for his new job at USM.
“(Being an assistant at UMKC) I think I learned a lot of behind-the-scenes kind of things,” Salanoa, a Hawaii native, said. “The coach there had a different philosophy on volleyball, so I had a different philosophy to look at. I got to see some different ideas about volleyball and behind the scenes what really goes on.”
Although he did get a taste of the paperwork and other off-court duties that go into being a head coach for a college, he admitted that’s still going to be the area where he has the most to learn.
“I think in my on-court practice sessions and strategically in the game everything will be fine,” Salanoa said. “The biggest jump for me will be handling all the paperwork and behind the scenes stuff.”
Salanoa has an extensive volleyball background, not only including his coaching experience but also playing collegiately at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. An outside hitter for the Yellowjackets, Salanoa said he feels like having that playing experience helps him be a more effective coach.
“I think strategically it helps a lot to have played the game. There are some coaches who haven’t played, but I feel like I have a foot ahead of them strategically just because of that.”
When he was growing up in Hawaii, Salanoa played volleyball and basketball. Although volleyball has now taken over as his passion, he admits that basketball used to take top billing.
“Honestly, I wanted to coach basketball when I was a little kid. After playing (volleyball) in college and then starting to coach club, I just started really loving it,” the new Spires’ coach said. “It’s a great feeling to pass on knowledge to girls and see them use it to get to the level they want to be at — whether that’s Division 1 or DII or NAIA.”
Since he started coaching volleyball, he said that making the move to head coach at a university has been his ultimate goal.
“It’s been a goal of mine, after coaching club for so long, to coach at a Division 1 program,” Salanoa said. “UMKC had the opening and I applied and got it. The reason I came to Saint Mary was because it was an opportunity for me to have my own program, even though it’s a smaller school.”
He focused on defense last year, helping the Kangaroos improve in several defensive categories, but Salanoa said that won’t be his main priority at Saint Mary.
“I feel like I’m well-rounded. (Being a defensive coordinator), that was an area where (UMKC) was lacking so they brought me in there,” Salanoa explained. “I was able to bring up the national ranking from 180th in the nation in digs per game to 24th in a year and in blocks from 181st to 42nd in the nation. So I felt like I did a good job there since that was what they wanted me to focus on at the time.”
For the Spires, Salanoa said his first intent as head coach will be to build his squad’s excitement for the game.
“I want the girls to learn to play with passion and intensity,” he said. “That’s the first key, before skills. My practice sessions are skills- and technique-oriented, where they have to be very proficient at performing skills before they can go on to play. I think when we master our skills that’ll take over in games and we’ll be winning games.
As for how the Spires will look on the court come the 2010 season, which opens Sept. 3-4 at the Saint Xavier University Tournament in Chicago, the first-year coach says the USM team will be all about controlling the ball.
“I have no idea how they did last year, I don’t know how they played. This year I know the team will be very ball-control oriented,” Salanoa said. “We’ll have good ball control and we’ll be able to win games with that.”
Former head coach Paul Lawson, who left Saint Mary to take a head coaching position at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wis., leaned heavily on freshmen last season — including hitters Hannah Hudgins, Megan Puhr and Amber Mahoney, setters Sara Kelly and Shelby Titus and libero Amelia Noll. With his late hire, Salanoa said the now sophomores will be looked to as leaders on his first Spires team.
“I think I’ll rely on this year’s sophomores,” Salanoa said. “I didn’t get to bring a lot of recruits in since I got the job really late here. I think them getting thrown into the fire as freshmen (in 2009) will help them as far as not having that deer in the headlights look.”
USM compiled an 11-18 overall record last year, falling to Friends University in the quarterfinals of the KCAC Championship Tournament. Salanoa said he’s looking to improve on that mark in his first year, setting a goal for the Spires to win at least half of their games in the 2010 season.
“This first year I definitely want to have an above .500 record,” Salanoa said. “Then I want to consistently win conference championships which will get us to the national tournament. Eventually be a top 25 team consistently and then, hopefully, be national champions. That’s the progression I want to see.”
With a lofty vision for what the Saint Mary program can be, Salanoa said he plans to be on the Spires’ bench for at least four years.
“I definitely want to be here for at least four years. If I’m here for 20 years that’s great, but I definitely want to get my first official recruiting class all the way through until they graduate.”
While he didn’t get to bring in many recruits for this season, the veteran club coach said his time in the Kansas City-area club volleyball scene will be a big boost in future recruiting classes.
“I think that’ll be a huge part of recruiting,” Salanoa said of his club coaching experience. “I plan on hitting Kansas City really hard. I’ve got a lot of connections here and hopefully I can use that to get some really good girls in here.”
After moving to the Kansas City area because his wife was attending nursing school here, Salanoa said he was pleasantly surprised to see such a booming volleyball scene.
“I was surprised moving here, Kansas City is actually a hotbed of volleyball,” he said. “I didn’t expect that coming here. I’ve been coaching club for the last four years and we’ve always done well, even going to nationals.”
Salanoa will get his first shot coaching on the Spires’ home court on Sept. 10 when USM hosts Tabor College.
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The University of Saint Mary recently hired Conan Salanoa to head the volleyball program. It is Salanoa’s first head coaching position at a university after he spent time on the University of Missouri-Kansas City bench last season as an assistantcoach/defensive coordinator. With the assistant position as well as several years as head coach in club volleyball under his belt, Salanoa said he feels very prepared for his new job at USM.
“(Being an assistant at UMKC) I think I learned a lot of behind-the-scenes kind of things,” Salanoa, a Hawaii native, said. “The coach there had a different philosophy on volleyball, so I had a different philosophy to look at. I got to see some different ideas about volleyball and behind the scenes what really goes on.”
Although he did get a taste of the paperwork and other off-court duties that go into being a head coach for a college, he admitted that’s still going to be the area where he has the most to learn.
“I think in my on-court practice sessions and strategically in the game everything will be fine,” Salanoa said. “The biggest jump for me will be handling all the paperwork and behind the scenes stuff.”
Salanoa has an extensive volleyball background, not only including his coaching experience but also playing collegiately at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. An outside hitter for the Yellowjackets, Salanoa said he feels like having that playing experience helps him be a more effective coach.
“I think strategically it helps a lot to have played the game. There are some coaches who haven’t played, but I feel like I have a foot ahead of them strategically just because of that.”
When he was growing up in Hawaii, Salanoa played volleyball and basketball. Although volleyball has now taken over as his passion, he admits that basketball used to take top billing.
“Honestly, I wanted to coach basketball when I was a little kid. After playing (volleyball) in college and then starting to coach club, I just started really loving it,” the new Spires’ coach said. “It’s a great feeling to pass on knowledge to girls and see them use it to get to the level they want to be at — whether that’s Division 1 or DII or NAIA.”
Since he started coaching volleyball, he said that making the move to head coach at a university has been his ultimate goal.
“It’s been a goal of mine, after coaching club for so long, to coach at a Division 1 program,” Salanoa said. “UMKC had the opening and I applied and got it. The reason I came to Saint Mary was because it was an opportunity for me to have my own program, even though it’s a smaller school.”
He focused on defense last year, helping the Kangaroos improve in several defensive categories, but Salanoa said that won’t be his main priority at Saint Mary.
“I feel like I’m well-rounded. (Being a defensive coordinator), that was an area where (UMKC) was lacking so they brought me in there,” Salanoa explained. “I was able to bring up the national ranking from 180th in the nation in digs per game to 24th in a year and in blocks from 181st to 42nd in the nation. So I felt like I did a good job there since that was what they wanted me to focus on at the time.”
For the Spires, Salanoa said his first intent as head coach will be to build his squad’s excitement for the game.
“I want the girls to learn to play with passion and intensity,” he said. “That’s the first key, before skills. My practice sessions are skills- and technique-oriented, where they have to be very proficient at performing skills before they can go on to play. I think when we master our skills that’ll take over in games and we’ll be winning games.
As for how the Spires will look on the court come the 2010 season, which opens Sept. 3-4 at the Saint Xavier University Tournament in Chicago, the first-year coach says the USM team will be all about controlling the ball.
“I have no idea how they did last year, I don’t know how they played. This year I know the team will be very ball-control oriented,” Salanoa said. “We’ll have good ball control and we’ll be able to win games with that.”
Former head coach Paul Lawson, who left Saint Mary to take a head coaching position at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wis., leaned heavily on freshmen last season — including hitters Hannah Hudgins, Megan Puhr and Amber Mahoney, setters Sara Kelly and Shelby Titus and libero Amelia Noll. With his late hire, Salanoa said the now sophomores will be looked to as leaders on his first Spires team.
“I think I’ll rely on this year’s sophomores,” Salanoa said. “I didn’t get to bring a lot of recruits in since I got the job really late here. I think them getting thrown into the fire as freshmen (in 2009) will help them as far as not having that deer in the headlights look.”
USM compiled an 11-18 overall record last year, falling to Friends University in the quarterfinals of the KCAC Championship Tournament. Salanoa said he’s looking to improve on that mark in his first year, setting a goal for the Spires to win at least half of their games in the 2010 season.
“This first year I definitely want to have an above .500 record,” Salanoa said. “Then I want to consistently win conference championships which will get us to the national tournament. Eventually be a top 25 team consistently and then, hopefully, be national champions. That’s the progression I want to see.”
With a lofty vision for what the Saint Mary program can be, Salanoa said he plans to be on the Spires’ bench for at least four years.
“I definitely want to be here for at least four years. If I’m here for 20 years that’s great, but I definitely want to get my first official recruiting class all the way through until they graduate.”
While he didn’t get to bring in many recruits for this season, the veteran club coach said his time in the Kansas City-area club volleyball scene will be a big boost in future recruiting classes.
“I think that’ll be a huge part of recruiting,” Salanoa said of his club coaching experience. “I plan on hitting Kansas City really hard. I’ve got a lot of connections here and hopefully I can use that to get some really good girls in here.”
After moving to the Kansas City area because his wife was attending nursing school here, Salanoa said he was pleasantly surprised to see such a booming volleyball scene.
“I was surprised moving here, Kansas City is actually a hotbed of volleyball,” he said. “I didn’t expect that coming here. I’ve been coaching club for the last four years and we’ve always done well, even going to nationals.”
Salanoa will get his first shot coaching on the Spires’ home court on Sept. 10 when USM hosts Tabor College.
