LEXINGTON, Ky. - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Bret Almazan-Cezar of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., and Anita Boeck of Arlington High School in Arlington, S.D., the 2009 AVCA National High School Coaches of the Year.
"Bret and Anita are outstanding examples of our country's best in high school volleyball coaches," AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said. "Between them, they have launched a whole generation of young women into early adulthood with the tools to be successful in volleyball and life. The fact that they hale from the country-size state of California and the wide-open spaces of South Dakota is a testament that excellent coaching is happening all over our land."
Almazan-Cezar has been the head coach at Archbishop Mitty for 10 years, and is turning in possibly his best season to date in 2009. The Monarchs are 36-0 and heavily favored entering this week's California Interscholastic Federation postseason competition, looking to capture their second consecutive CIF Division II Championship. The Monarchs are a combined 78-1 the past two seasons and are currently ranked as the top team in the country according to the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National High School Volleyball Rankings.
In 20 years at Arlington, Boeck has over 450 career wins. Although the Cardinals fell in a five-set heartbreaker in the finals of the South Dakota High School Activities Association State Championships, they finished a stellar 2009 season at 33-2, including securing the top ranking in their class going into the postseason. Boeck has now appeared in the state championship match four times in her outstanding career at Arlington.
Almazan-Cezar and Boeck were selected from a distinct group of finalists, which included: Joy Becker (Florida); Kathy Bresnahan (Iowa); Kelly Drobek (California); and Rochelle Rohlfs (Nebraska).
The AVCA will formally present the National High School Coach of the Year awards to Almazan-Cezar and Boeck at the 2009 jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, December 17. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 2009 AVCA Annual Convention.
As a result of winning AVCA National Coach of the Year honors, Almazan-Cezar and Boeck will lead Team Red and Team Black in the second-annual Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match & Skills Competition, December 20 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.