George Chapell Named an AVCA Thirty Under 30 Recipient

AVCA Thirty Under 30 Recipients

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) presented their fifth annual Thirty Under 30 Award recipients and second-year Endicott men's volleyball coach George Chapell '08 was recognized as one of the up-and-coming volleyball coaches at any level. Chapell was one of just three NCAA Division III coaches to be placed on the AVCA's Thirty Under 30 list which included Wentworth men's coach Evin Giglio and McDaniel women's coach Jessica Cortese.

"I am very grateful to have been named to the Thirty Under 30 list by the AVCA," said Chapell. "This award is consistently given to very successful colleagues that I am humbled to now be mentioned with. All of this would not have been possible without the great deal of support I have around in my wife, my parents, friends, assistants, administrators, and players. I am extremely thankful to all of them who have helped me get to this point."

Chapell has served the Endicott men's volleyball program for six years, four years as an assistant under long-time coach Tim Byram from 2009-12 and the last two seasons as the team's head coach. The Gulls have gone 124-64 with Chapell's coaching input over the years with an exceptional 33-14 (16-1 NECC) record in 2013 and 2014 combined with a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title and NCAA Division III Tournament berth last spring.

Twenty all-conference players, two conference players of the year, two all-region, and two AVCA All-American has worked with Chapell in his six years at Endicott as a coach.

During his coaching career, Chapell has worked at several different levels including the high school and club ranks. Now that he has settled down at his alma mater, however, Chapell has hopes of catapulting the Gulls into a national contender.

"We have been able to put an extra charge into the program here and the players have dedicated themselves to improving since day one. Our goals for the program are to turn the team into a perennial contender for a national championship, to attain a high level of success on the court but more importantly, in the classroom, and to develop our student-athletes into great men and leaders."

Thus far in 2014, Endicott owns an 8-4 overall record, a 4-1 mark in conference play, and ranks in the top-10 in Division III in kills (12.05), assists (11.47), and digs (11.29) per set. This weekend, the Blue and Green host their annual Endicott Invitational where they will take on NECC rival Daniel Webster, Sage, and the nation's fifth-ranked team Rivier. The following week, Chapell takes his squad to California where they play #8 UC Santa Cruz twice and Rivier for the third time this season at the Slug Slam.

"As we qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time, we now have the experience of making the field and are looking to improve upon that this year. With the athletes that we have on our team this year, our ability to vie for a conference title and automatic bid, and the quality of our competitors that we face each and every game day, we expect to take another step towards our goal."