Eleven days after the sudden retirement of former Terrapin volleyball coach Janice Kruger, Tim Horsmon has signed on to become just the third coach in program history.
Kruger finished her 20th season with the program in the fall, and replacing the experience and status she built as one of the longest tenured coaches at the university prior to her retirement will be a daunting task for Horsmon.
“It’s exciting,” said Horsmon, the head coach at Dayton for the last five seasons. “Janice had a lot of great years here. I just want to build off what she has done and continue that. I grew up in Maryland, and I have been a fan of the Terps all my life. We are going to work extremely hard to try to build a winner.”
Kruger’s Jan. 29 retirement caught the team off guard, but freshman outside hitter Michelle Kenning said the team is ready to move forward with Horsman, who compiled a 225-93 record over the course of nine years at Dayton and Robert Morris.
“We are really anxious,” Kenning said. “We are hopefully having a meeting with our new coach sometime this week. It’s an exciting time for us. We haven’t been one of the big teams in the ACC over the last two years. With a new coach, we are all anxious to prove we are a contender in the ACC.”
Although Horsmon has not had a chance to get an up-close look at his new team, he will have a lot of experience on the roster. The Terps return nine upperclassmen as well as a talented sophomore class heading into next season.
“I need to get there and evaluate where we are,” Horsmon said. “I know some of the players from recruiting. We are going to work through this spring to prepare for the fall and see where we are at.”
Horsmon comes to the Terps with nine years of head-coaching experience. Horsmon started his career in 1999 as head coach at Robert Morris, where he led the Colonials to four NEC championships and four NCAA tournament berths.
Then, Horsmon moved on to Dayton, where he collected four Atlantic-10 championships and NCAA tournament berths in five seasons.
“We are glad to have gotten someone of that caliber to coach our team,” junior outside hitter Mary Beth Brown said. “We hope it will be the start of a successful career here at Maryland.”
Between both tenures, Horsmon accumulated a 17-1 mark in conference tournaments, but has coached just five games against ACC teams.
Despite Horsmon’s lack of ACC experience, he is confident that he can build a winner with the Terps.
“Last season, we [Dayton] beat Purdue and Illinois when they were ranked,” Horsmon said. “We have had success against the best teams, and we are familiar with the ACC through recruiting and spring tournament play. We were ranked as high as 12th last season.”
Horsmon will arrive in College Park later this week to put together a coaching staff and begin talent evaluations. The Terps will have about a month and a half to learn the new system before the spring tournaments start in April.
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