On April 10, 2012, Patrick Hiltz was named the head volleyball coach at Nicholls State University.
With over 18 combined years of coaching in the high school, club and collegiate ranks, Hiltz comes to Nicholls after spending the last year as an assistant at the University of Louisiana at Monroe under head coach Earnest Vasquez.
“"We are delighted to add Patrick to our coaching staff,” Nicholls Athletics Director Rob Bernardi said. “He is committed to making Nicholls volleyball a consistent winner in the Southland Conference, while maintaining the high academic standards our department demands."
Hiltz, a 2002 graduate of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, inherits a team that won 18 games last season, the most for any Nicholls team since 2002.
“I would like to thank Rob and the Nicholls administration for the opportunity to be the head coach of the Nicholls women’s volleyball team, and I look forward to the chance to return Nicholls volleyball to the program it was in the past,” Hiltz said. “With eight seniors on the team, I want to make their last year something special and after seeing them play last year, I believe it can be.”
Before joining the staff at ULM Hiltz was an assistant at Phoenix College in Arizona, where with the Bears he aided the team to a runner-up finish in the 2010 NJCAA Division II regional championships and third-place finish the year before.
While in Arizona, Hiltz gained valuable experience with traveling volleyball clubs, with stints as the head coach of the 15-Elite team for the Arizona United Volleyball Club and for Club Zea. At the helm of both teams he amassed a record of 11-3 at the prestigious Colorado Crossroads Tournament.
“With my background with club teams, I hope to be able to find some of the best volleyball players in the country and welcome them to Nicholls,” Hiltz said. “I’ve made a lot of connections with coaches and club directors in this region on top of the ones I made out on the west coast, because those relationships are so valuable to your program.”
The California-native’s high school coaching experience began when he was a varsity player, becoming an assistant coach for the freshman team at San Marcos HS in Santa Barbara. From that point he has worked at high schools in Nevada and Arizona, along with coaching the Northern Arizona University club team.
With a defensive-oriented approach to the game, Hiltz will look to start putting the pieces together for a strong 2012 campaign.
“I’m excited to get to know the players and begin to figure out how we can merge my defensive techniques with the strong abilities they already have,” Hiltz said. “This team is full of leaders, and as a new coach, will make the transition a smooth and successful one.”
