Giglio Honored With AVCA's Thirty Under 30 Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is pleased to announce its 2017 Thirty Under 30 Awards. This award was created in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport. To qualify for the award, nominees had to be 30 years old or younger in 2016. This year broke the record number of nominations. Among this year's 30 recipients is Wentworth Institute of Technology head men's & women's volleyball coach, Evin Giglio, who earns this honor for the second time during his career.

"The young talent in volleyball coaching is just outstanding," said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. "As exciting as these 30 award winners is the fact that almost 200 young coaches were nominated for consideration. It's a good time to be a volleyball coach!"

Of the thirty recipients, 12 are NCAA Division I coaches, five in high school/club, four in NCAA Division III, three are NCAA Division II and Two-Year College, and there's one each in the NAIA, NCCAA, and USCAA.

Giglio, who was honored in 2014, is in his sixth season at the helm of the Leopard men's program and 2016 saw the completion of his fifth season as Wentworth's women's volleyball coach.

On the men's side, he is the program's all-time winningest coach with a 128-59 (.684) mark which includes a 22-6 this season, a season which has seen the Black & Gold be ranked every week in the AVCA Division III Poll, including as high as fifth on two occasions. The 2017 campaign also marks the fifth straight season Wentworth has won 20 or more games.

Wentworth's success this season has come on the heels of a 2016 campaign which saw the Leopards win both the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Championships for the first time in program history and advance, also for the first time, to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament after hosting the first-ever NCAA tournament contest on Wentworth's campus.

The 2014 GNAC Coach of the Year, Giglio has also guided his teams to three ECAC Tournaments, capturing the 2014 crown and finishing second in 2013 and 2015.

On the women's side, Giglio is coming off the most successful season in program history as the Leopards finished 23-6 overall and hosted a Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament match for the first time in program history. The appearance in the CCC Tournament was also the first since Giglio's first season (2012).

Giglio has guided the Leopards to double figures in wins in four straight seasons, which includes a then-program record 16 in 2013. He is the program's all-time win leader with 71 as he has amassed a 71-64 (.526) record in five seasons.

He has coached the men's volleyball program's first All-American – Alex Potts – in 2016 and a pair of rookies of the year in Sean Mullen who won the GNAC Rookie of the Year in 2015 and Leah Rogoz who was the CCC Rookie of the year this past season.

Prior to arriving at Wentworth, Giglio spent one season as an assistant women's volleyball coach at Austin Peay where he helped the Governors enjoy their best record in 18 seasons, going 25-7 (14-4 Ohio Valley Conference), win their first OVC Championship since 1991 and earn the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

Giglio was involved with the men's volleyball program at Springfield College for two seasons. As a junior, he appeared in seven matches and helped the Pride to a 14-10 record and a berth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association – a Division I men's volleyball conference – Quarterfinals. A year later he was a student assistant for the Pride, helping them to a 20-11 record and the sixth Molten Division III Men's Volleyball National Championship in program history. He graduated from Springfield in 2010 with a Bachelor's degree in communication/sports journalism.

Prior to arriving at Springfield, Giglio played two seasons for Moorpark (Calif.) College where he was a starting middle blocker and served as a team captain. He recorded 12 blocks in a match, which still stands as a program record. In addition to playing for the Raiders, he was also a student assistant for the women's team. He earned an Associate's degree from Moorpark in 2008. Outside of Wentworth he has worked camps at Springfield, Moorpark, and Austin Peay and was also involved with the Conejo Crush Volleyball Club as an assistant coach with the 14-year old age group and a co-head coach with the 15-year old age group. He has also worked as a clinician with Gold Medal Squared and has hosted Gold Medal Squared clinics on the Wentworth campus.

"I'm grateful to win this award again," said Giglio. "I didn't know if I was prepared to take over two programs at the age of 24 when I first started, but being a head coach has taught me a tremendous amount about responsibility, selflessness and commitment."

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