Ken Nichols Head Coach First season at NU: 2000 Alma Mater: UMass Dartmouth '89

Volleyball 2007 •TEAM PAGE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | TEAM STATS

The Northeastern volleyball program has never been stronger, and head coach Ken Nichols deserves much of the credit. In 2007, his eighth season at Northeastern, Nichols led the Huskies to a 19-12 record, and a second place finish in the CAA with an 11-3 record. Nichols presided over a team that was one of the youngest in the CAA, yet won more overall games than any Husky team since 2004. One of those young players, freshman Caitlin Tittl, became CAA Rookie of the Year. Nichols also coached first team All-CAA selection Kira Batura, and second team All-CAA choice Lauren DeTurk. In 2006, Nichols achieved his sixth winning season with the Huskies, leading his squad to a birth into the CAA Tournament with a record of 12-6 in the CAA and 15-12 overall. Since he came to Northeastern in 2000, the Huskies have had five straight winning seasons, going 103-64 overall. In 2001 the Huskies went 23-11, winning their first America East Championship and earning their first NCAA Div. I playoff berth. NU continued its progress in 2002, finishing 10-2 in America East play for the team’s highest winning percentage (.833) against conference teams since 1991. In 2003, the Huskies once again went 23-11 and were ranked 58th in the RPI (out of 311 Div. I teams), the highest in the conference and in New England. Last season, Nichols produced NU’s second straight 20-win season and finished second in America East with an 11-3 record. When Nichols arrived in 2000, he and the Huskies immediately faced adversity. But despite several injuries and a car accident involving multiple players that had his team reduced to six active athletes at one point, Nichols led NU to a 19-16 record and the third seed at the America East playoffs and earned America East Coach of the Year honors for his efforts. Nichols came to Huntington Avenue after an impressive run as head coach at Providence (1997-99). He compiled a 53-40 record with the Friars over three straight winning seasons, and was named Big East Coach of the Year in 1999. He accomplished all of this despite having the fewest number of scholarships of any team in the Big East. Though the Friars were picked to finish 12th in the 1999 preseason Big East poll, Nichols led them to an 8-3 Big East record (16-12 overall) and a third-place finish in the conference. The eight conference wins were the most ever by a Friar team and it was Providence’s first trip to the Big East tournament since the 1994 season. Nichols’ teams have not only performed on the court, but also in the classroom. His 1998 Providence squad was recognized as the top academic program in the Big East, and the 2002 Huskies posted an impressive 3.28 team GPA. His peers have taken notice of his success. “Ken is a very good technical and tactical coach who always gets the most out of his players,” said Debbie Brown, who has coached Notre Dame to five of the last six Big East championships. “His teams play hard and have a ‘never say die’ attitude. I have tremendous respect for him and for his team.” Nichols entered the college coaching ranks as an assistant at Roger Williams University in 1993. He then became an assistant at Providence in 1996, and the following season was named head coach of the Friars. A long-time certified USVBA and NAGWS official, Nichols has been involved in volleyball year-round for the last 12 years. He was the varsity girls coach at Bishop Stang High School (North Dartmouth, Mass.) from 1993-95, and was the JV coach in 1991 and ’92. During that time, Nichols also coached for a local juniors program and was the chairman of a highly competitive adult program. He is active in the Bay State Games both as a coach and as a participant. Nichols has been part of a men’s open volleyball team at the Games for over 10 years and has coached teams to several medals in the open division. A 1989 graduate of Southeastern Massachusetts (now UMass Dartmouth) with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Nichols has completed two years of graduate studies in Organic Chemistry at his alma mater. He resides in Bridgewater, Mass., with wife Tina and sons James, 2, and Connor, 5 months.