PULLMAN — WSU Ahletics has hired Andrew Palileo (paw-leh-lay-oh) as its new head coach for volleyball, effective immediately, Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced.
Joining Palileo (photo above) on the Cougars volleyball coaching staff are associate head coach Brian Lamppa, and assistant coach TeAna L. Crutcher-Tramel.
Palileo comes to Washington State after an outstanding seven-year head coaching career at South Dakota State where he accumulated 154 wins and 86 losses. Palileo was named the 2007 Summit League Coach of the Year. The South Dakota State Jacks were the 2007 Summit League regular season and tournament volleyball champions and made the first trip in school history to the NCAA Championship Tournament last fall. Palileo’s squad broke or tied 23 team or individual records during its historic 2007 season.
Sterk, left, Palileo, Brian Lamppa, associate head coach, and TeAna L. Crutcher-Tramel, assistant coach at April 15 press conference (Photo by Tim Marsh, University Relations)
Palileo replaces former coach Brian Heffernan who resigned on Feb. 21. Heffernan coached four seasons with the Cougars, compiling a 39-87 overall record.
While coaching at South Dakota State, Palileo’s teams were the NCAA Div. II national runners-up in 2001, advanced to the NCAA Div. II regional final in 2002, and while coaching at Bethel University his team was the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) tournament champions and played in the NCAA Div. III Championship tournament in 1999. He was named the NCAA Div. II North Central Region Coach of the Year in 2001, and the 1999 NCAA Div. III MIAC Coach of the Year. While coaching the Jacks, Palileo had the 2001 NCAA Div. II national player of the year, and the 1999 MIAC player of the year. His South Dakota State teams have earned American Volleyball Coaches Association team academic honors in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
“Andrew Palileo has all of the qualities we were striving for in a head coach at Washington State,” Sterk said. “He is focused, ethical, passionate, experienced and goal-oriented. Andrew has proven to be a successful head coach and has demonstrated his ability to elevate programs to be nationally competitive. He will strive for excellence on and off the court while keeping a strong commitment to the wellbeing of the student-athletes. I am confident that Andrew will make every effort to provide our Cougar women with the best student-athlete experience in the country. He is a great fit for WSU Athletics and the Pullman community.”
WSU Faculty Athletics Representative Ken Casavant said, “Throughout our search process and our interview it was evident that Andrew put the student’s graduation success and academic learning high in his approach to coaching. I am convinced that he will bring that strength and enthusiasm for the student part of the student-athlete with him to WSU as our new coach.”
Andrew Palileo talks to media. Photo by Tim Marsh, University Relations.
Prior to South Dakota State, Palileo was the head volleyball coach at Bethel University (St. Paul, Minn.), where he had an 85-53 record in four seasons, the best four-year record in school history. While at Bethel, he produced eight first-team all-conference players, a first-team All-American and two academic All-Americans. He has coached the Club SoDa 18s volleyball team in Brookings, SD, for the past six years, and was the Heartland Adidas Select Volleyball Program 18s head coach for five years in Minneapolis, Minn. Palileo has also been the head coach of the Midwest Volleyball Instructor Elite Camps for the past 10 years.
A graduate of Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minn.), Palileo received his bachelor of arts degree in missiology in 1991 and a bachelor of arts degree in social science/secondary education in 1995. He went on to earn a masters degree in Educational Leadership from Bethel University (St. Paul, Minn.) in 2000.
Palileo and his wife, Wendy, have three sons, Ashton (15), Austin (13), and A.J. (7), and one daughter, Alyvia (11).
Associate Head Coach Brian Lamppa joins the WSU staff after serving as the head volleyball coach at the University of South Dakota for the past five seasons and accumulating a record of 75 wins and 73 losses, the best five-year record in school history. Lamppa took the Coyotes to the NCAA Div. II Championship tournament in both 2007 and 2004. Lamppa was the head volleyball coach at Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa) from 1999 to 2003, with a 98-45 record and four-straight 20-win seasons. He was named the NCAA Div. II North Central Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 and the NCAA Div. III Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2002.
Lamppa is a 1998 graduate of Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, Mich.) where he earned a bachelor degree in physical education. He went on to earn a masters degree in physical education from Loras College in 2000.
Assistant Coach TeAna L. Crutcher-Tramel comes to Pullman after a two-year stint as the head volleyball coach and Assistant Athletic Director at Bethany College (Lindsborg, Kan.). Crutcher-Tramel was also the head volleyball coach at Cameron University (Lawton, Okla.) from 2005-2006. She played volleyball at the University of Louisiana-Monroe from 1999-2001, and completed her playing career at New Mexico State (2001-2003). She was a graduate assistant coach to Palileo at South Dakota State from 2003-2005, as the school transitioned from NCAA Div. II to Div. I athletics. Crutcher-Tramel received her bachelor of science degree from New Mexico State in 2003 and went on to earn her masters of science degree in sports administration from South Dakota State in 2005.
