Dec. 23—GRAND FORKS — UND has its new volleyball coach.
The Fighting Hawks have hired David Nguyen from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
He replaces Jesse Tupac, whose contract was not renewed at the end of the season.
Nguyen brought Fairleigh Dickinson to the NCAA tournament in 2022 and won the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season championship in 2023.
Nguyen was named NEC coach of the year twice in four seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson.
His teams went 9-5, 11-3, 11-3 and 12-4 in the NEC. Before his arrival, Fairleigh Dickinson went 3-11, 2-6, 3-13, 0-14, 1-13 and 1-13 in the NEC.
“What he has been able to do at FDU was nothing short of remarkable in such a short amount of time,” UND athletic director Bill Chaves said. “To be a two-time NEC Coach of the Year and leading the Knights into the NCAA tournament for the first time in their history is something that he and we believe can be replicated at UND.”
Nguyen will have a similar rebuilding project at UND.
The Fighting Hawks have posted eight consecutive losing seasons as the program spiraled from a strong mid-major under Ashley Hardee (2009-13) and Mark Pryor (2014-18) to a floundering team in the Summit League.
UND went 7-20 and 4-12 in the Summit last season. It has not yet won a match at the Summit League tournament since joining the conference in 2018.
“My mission is to provide our student-athletes a first-class experience by being competitive on and off the court,” Nguyen said. “We are going to work together to build a legacy our student-athletes, alumni, fans and donors can be proud of. I am excited to take this next step in my career, and I look forward to building a volleyball family at North Dakota.”
This will be Nguyen’s first coaching venture out West.
He attended Virginia Commonwealth University from 2013-18, serving as team manager. He was the director of operations at Virginia from 2018-19.
Nguyen was hired as an assistant coach at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., from 2019-21. He served as an assistant at Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C., from 2021-22, before heading to Fairleigh Dickinson in Madison, N.J.
When he was hired at Fairleigh Dickinson, he had support from people at his previous stops.
“Coaching is in David’s DNA,” William and Mary coach Tim Doyle said in 2022. “He’s built to lead volleyball teams. I’m excited to see his purpose come to life at Fairleigh Dickinson. They say a team takes on the personality of its head coach. If that’s the case, FDU will be known for working tirelessly, and like David, they’ll never quit.”
UND has a tie with Fairleigh Dickinson. Chaves’ son, Derek, is a graduate assistant with the Knights this year.
Tupac spent four seasons at UND, going 35-77 (.313). His contract expires Dec. 31. UND announced last month that the school and Tupac mutually agreed to part ways at the end of his contract.
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