E-mail coach Friend

Dan Friend is in his fourth season at the helm of the Lewis University men's volleyball program. In his 11th season as a head coach, Friend began the 2007-08 season with a 203-130 overall record.

Last season Friend led the Flyers to a 17-14 overall record, upping his record to 44-46 with the Lewis men. Lewis reached the postseason for the first time under Friend, falling to Ball State in the opening round of the conference tournament. Three Flyers earned All-MIVA recognition following the season and nine made the all-academic list.

In 2006, Friend guided the Flyer men to a 10-18 mark, presiding over a team of all freshmen starters. Friend had two players named to the all-conference team, and he saw 11 players land on the conference's all-academic list.

In his first season with the Lewis men, Friend guided a veteran club with four all-conference players to a 17-14 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the MIVA.

Friend's first taste of NCAA postseason play came in the fall of 2006 when he took over as interim head coach of the Lewis women's team and led the Flyers to their first conference championship in 14 years. The women's team went 17-3 under Friend, finishing with a 25-6 overall record and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Before arriving at Lewis, Friend served as the men's and women's volleyball head coach at Newman University. Friend started the men's volleyball program at Newman in 2002 and led the team to the NAIA national championship match in its third year. He coached the Jets to a 20-win season in 2003 and was named NAIA

National Coach of the Year after leading the 2004 squad to a 29-11 mark and national runner-up finish.

As Newman's women's head volleyball coach, Friend guided the program to 22 or more wins in each of his three seasons at the helm. He coached 15 all-conference, eight all-region and two All-America players. In 2003, the Jets posted a 32-8 overall record and 14-2 league mark.

Friend's combined record in the two positions, was 142-81 (.637), including a 66-40 (.623) record with the men's team.

Before coaching at Newman, Friend spent three seasons as an assistant women's volleyball coach at Washburn University. Prior to that, Friend was a student assistant at Washburn for four years.

Friend also coached and played for a college-age men's team called USA Athletes on five different summer tours. That team took first at the 2007 Scottish Opoen, 2004 Aruba Invitational and the 2002 Down Under Games (Australia). In 2003 the team finished third in the DKV Invitational (Netherlands).

Friend is a native of Topeka, Kan., and a graduate of Washburn University. He earned a bachelor's degree in athletic training and exercise physiology at Washburn before completing a master's degree in sports administration at the University of Kansas.

Friend is a certified athletic trainer who has worked in a rehabilitation clinic and at the University of Kansas. Friend is a member of the AVCA and the United States Volleyball Association. He also competes in the summer months on the EVP and AVP.

Friend is just the second head coach in the 15-year history of the Lewis program, which has become a national power. The Flyers have made three NCAA Championship appearances, making trips to the NCAA semifinals in 1996, 1998 and 2004.