Laguna Blanca boys volleyball coach Dillan Bennett has been honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as one of its Thirty-Under-30 Award winners. The award recognizes up-and-coming coaching talent age 30 and under at all playing levels.
Dillan Bennett started coaching at Laguna Blanca when he was 19.
Bennett, 23, is one of three high school coaches to receive the honor. Of the other recipients, 11 are coaches in NCAA Division 1, four in Division 2, four in Division 3, three each at NAIA and two-year colleges and two at the club level.
“If you love volleyball, it’s hard not to smile when you look at this class of AVCA Thirty Under 30 award winners,” said AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer. “Bright, dedicated, aspiring young coaches representing every facet of our sport — college, high school, club – coaching both male and female players. Each year, selecting just 30 gets harder and harder and our excitement about our future grows stronger and stronger.”
Laguna Blanca Athletic Director Mike Biermann hired Bennett in 2009 as a middle school girls volleyball coach. In spring of 2010, he served as the assistant coach for the high school boys varsity team and was later named head coach in the fall of 2010. In 2013, he started Laguna’s sand volleyball program for the girls, and added the boys program in fall 2014.
“This is a well-deserved award for Dillan,” Biermann said. “His dedication and passion for the sport of volleyball are unparalleled and he has a very bright future ahead in the volleyball world.”
Bennett is also a certified sand volleyball coach and has worked with USA Beach Volleyball.
“I’m deeply humbled and honored to be recognized by the AVCA, and to be in the company of an incredibly talented team of coaches who inspire their team, and share the passion of the sport of volleyball,” said Bennett.
Last season, Bennett guided the Laguna Blanca boys to a 21-4 record and the CIF-SS Division 5 semifinals.
