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The University of Utah Athletics
Launiere Hires New Volleyball Assistant
5/30/2003 12:00 AM | Volleyball
May 30, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Head Women's Volleyball Coach Beth Launiere today announced the hiring of former Avila College (Mo.) head coach Jason Smith as an assistant. Smith served the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Ferris State University.
"Jason comes to Utah with a lot of experience and he's excited to be at the Division I level," Launiere said. "The combination of those two factors will be of real value to us."
Smith, who joined the staff at Ferris State in May 2001, assisted with all phases of the program, including on-floor coaching, recruiting and administrative functions.
In Smith's first season, the Bulldogs compiled a 21-11 overall record and placed second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Ferris posted a 24-7 overall mark during the 2002 campaign, the program's fifth consecutive 20-win season. The Bulldogs also claimed their 11th NCAA Division II Tournament bid in the program's history.
Prior to his work at Ferris State, Smith served as an assistant coach at Iowa Western Community College. During the 2000 season, he helped guide the Revivers to a 41-7 mark and a 10th-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament. He had spent the three previous years as the director of telecommunications at Transamerica Life Insurance Company in Kansas City, Mo.
Prior to his corporate position, Smith spent two seasons as the head coach and two seasons as an assistant at Avila. During that stint, his teams were nationally ranked in both passing and defensive statistics. In 1994, as an assistant, the Eagles won a conference championship and earned a berth in the regional playoffs. That squad was also the nation's top-ranked passing team.
The 33-year-old Smith got his collegiate coaching start as an assistant at Avila during the 1993 campaign, when the Eagles advanced to the district playoffs.
Smith played collegiate volleyball for four years at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, where he was a member of three regional championship teams and was a three-time all-region pick. During his final season in 1992, he was the team MVP as a team captain.
A 1988 graduate of Truman High School in Independence, Mo., Smith earned a bachelor's degree in business and economics from Graceland in 1992. He has also served as a volunteer statistician for the United States men's national team.
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