Dominican University Athletics

Dan Ames, Dominican University’s first NCAA Division III men’s volleyball head coach, helped build the Stars’ volleyball program from the ground up.  The longtime Dominican University women’s volleyball assistant coach, recruited over 16 student-athletes in one year to begin Dominican University’s program in 2014.  In three short seasons, Ames has built the Stars program into one of the top Division III program in the country.  Dominican has spent a total of 21 weeks ranked in the AVCA Men’s Division III Top 15 over the past two seasons, including three weeks in the AVCA Men’s DIII Top 10.

Under Ames, Alex Coyne and Mason Solbrig became the first AVCA All-Americans in program history, each earning the honor as a sophomore in 2015.  That season, Solbrig ranked second nationally in hitting percentage, hitting a hefty .475 with 148 kills to just 35 errors to land on the All-American First Team while Coyne doled out 10.38 assists per set, ranking fifth nationally, to earn a spot on the All-America Second Team.

Under Ames, Dominican has compiled a 45-34 record in 89 matches over three seasons.  The Stars have qualified for every conference postseason, earning a spot in the CVC Tournament in 2014 before making back-to-back appearances in the MCVL Tournament in 2015 and 2016.
During his tenure as a women’s volleyball assistant from 2009 through 2011, the Stars made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championships and won their first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament Championship.

The owner of two volleyball clubs, Naperville Volleyball Club and Pipeline Volleyball Club, Ames has amassed an impressive resume at the club level, posting second and third place finishes at the AAU National Championship in 1999 and 2000 with the Sports Performance Volleyball Club as well as a second place finish at the Asics National Championships in 2004 with the 16-Mizuno and 18-Runbird boys teams.   In fact, while with Sports Performance Volleyball Club, the club became the first ever to two top five seeds in the same Boys’ Junior Olympics 18-Open Boys’ Tournament.