Northwestern names Tim Nollan as new head volleyball coach
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- Tim Nollan has been named the new head women's volleyball coach at Northwestern University, the school announced Tuesday.
Nollan arrived at Northwestern after spending the last eight years as head volleyball coach at Grand Canyon University.
At Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona, Nollan engineered a turnaround in which he led the Lopes volleyball team to the 95-36 mark over the past five seasons, Northwestern said. He led the Grand Canyon program to its first postseason win in the 2022 National Invitational Volleyball Championship – and last year led the team to a 23-8 finish and an upset victory over top-seeded Stephen F. Austin to win the Western Athletic Conference Tournament title, Northwestern said.
Before arriving at Grand Canyon, Nollan spent eight years at the University of Southern California – from 2008 until 2015 – where be he became the assistant head coach. The Trojans' women's volleyball team advanced to three NCAA Final Four tournaments and appeared in six Elite Eights during that time, Northwestern reported.
Before that, Nollan served four seasons as an assistant volleyball coach at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, making three appearances with the Waves team in the NCAA tournament.
"Tim is a proven coach who transformed Grand Canyon into a championship program following successful stops at USC and Pepperdine," Combe Family Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Dr. Derrick Gragg said in a news release. "He's a winner and is the right fit to deliver a first-class experience to our student-athletes while leading our volleyball program in one of the nation's premier conferences. I couldn't be happier to officially welcome Tim, Kristen, Avery, Emma, and Deacon to the Wildcat family."
Nollan is a native of Ventura, California.
Last year, the Northwestern women's volleyball program was embroiled in a hazing scandal that also affected several other sports – notably including men's football. Former head volleyball coach Shane Davis was named in a lawsuit filed by a player in July of last year, and Northwestern announced in December that Davis would not be returning.
