Outside hitter Ashleigh Crutcher fist pumps after the Terps score late in the fourth set of their 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 30, 2013.
This university’s athletic department announced Wednesday afternoon that it has hired Steve Aird as the Terrapins volleyball team’s head coach.
Aird, who replaces Tim Horsmon, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Penn State and he also served as the Nittany Lions’ director of operations in 2007. Aird took time off from coaching before accepting the Penn State assistant job in 2012.
Prior to his time in Happy Valley, Pa., Aird served as assistant coach at Cincinnati from . Aird played for the Nittany Lions’ men’s squad from 1997-2001, helping the team to three consecutive NCAA Semifinals appearances.
Despite talented recruiting classes, the Terps struggled to maintain consistency under Horsmon, who left this univeristy to coach Dayton. The team compiled a 79-114 record during his six years, failing to qualify for an NCAA tournament. Horsmon-led teams finished over .500 twice, in 2010 and 2012.
In Aird’s two seasons as an assistant, Penn State posted a 67-5 record, including an NCAA Championship last season.
Aird will hope to replicate the Nittany Lions’ success and bring the Terps to the NCAA tournament, which they haven’t qualified for since 2005 when Janice Kruger was coach.
Aird will be joined on the bench by fellow Penn state alumni and Terps assistant coach Michael Shearer.
