Augustana College director of athletics Slade Larscheid announced Monday that Dan Meske has been named the new head volleyball coach at Augustana.
Meske (pronounced MESS-key), who becomes the eighth head coach in program history, takes over for Ashley Buckley who resigned on March 27 after seven seasons. Meske will officially begin his duties at Augustana May 15.
“We are extremely excited to have Dan Meske join the Augustana family,” Larscheid said. “Dan brings a tremendous amount of success and experience to our volleyball program. His knowledge, network and leadership will be true assets to our volleyball student-athletes, Augustana and the community of Sioux Falls. We are looking forward to the future of Viking volleyball with coach Meske leading the way.”
Meske recently completed his eighth season as an assistant at the University of Nebraska where she spent the last five seasons as a full-time assistant. He was promoted prior to the 2011 season after serving as a volunteer coach for the Huskers in 2009 and 2010.
Meske was also a graduate assistant at Nebraska in 2006 and 2007. Meske was in charge of coordinating the Huskers’ blocking defense as well as video scouting, team managers and assisting with camps. He worked primarily with Nebraska’s middle blockers. “I am incredibly humbled and proud to be the new leader of the Augustana volleyball program,” Meske said. “I would like to thank Slade Larscheid, President Rob Oliver and the search committee for taking the time to get to know me throughout the interview process and embracing what I will bring to the Augustana community.” In his eight seasons at Nebraska, the Huskers have compiled a record of 216-44 and won three Big 12 Championships, a Big Ten Championship and have made eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Meske also helped oversee the inauguration and emergence of the Huskers’ sand volleyball program and has helped the team become a top-10 program in just its third year in existence. “I truly believe that there is unlimited potential with the volleyball program at Augustana,” Meske said. From the student-athletes to administration, the right people are in place to accomplish great things on and off the volleyball court. The NSIC is one of the premier conferences in Division II, and I look forward to the challenge of playing against the best competition each night.” Meske has also been involved in junior volleyball. From 2004 to 2009, Meske worked as a club camp coach for Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Chicago, Ill. Meske led his Sports Performance 16s team to a club silver medal in the 2009 AAU National Championships. In 2012, Meske led his vcNebraska 14s team to an open silver medal in the 2012 AAU National Championships. Meske is a 2007 graduate of Ohio State University where he played four seasons for coach Pete Hanson. He appeared in 117 career matches for the Buckeyes, helping OSU to a national semifinal appearance in 2005. Ohio State won 88 matches and a pair of Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association titles during his career. He was a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection and a four-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete during his collegiate career. Meske spent one season playing professionally in Indonesia, helping BNI Taplus Volleyball to a regular-season title and a national runner-up finish in 2008. He received his master’s degree in leadership and development from Nebraska in 2010.
