With a 3-0 victory over Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday morning (Sept. 5) at the Oredigger Classic in Golden, Colo., Grand Valley State head coach
Deanne Scanlon captured the 500th
win of her illustrious coaching career.
Scanlon becomes the 17th active Division II coach with 500 victories. Of that prestigious 17-member group, her winning percentage of .773 is the sixth-highest figure. Also, she has the third fewest losses (147) of the 17 current coaches in the 500-win club.
Her .773 winning percentage is 14th-best among active Division II coaches who have coached for at least five years. Among all-time Division II head coaches (who spent at least 10 years at the Division II level), Scanlon ranks 13th in winning percentage.
Perhaps even more impressive is that Scanlon joins elite company among fellow GLIAC coaches. With 500 victories (all coming at Grand Valley State), she is now second all-time in conference history in overall victories and the only coach she trails is quite a familiar face.
26-year GVSU head coach Joan Boand owns a record 545 career victories, all of which came during her tenure in Allendale. Scanlon needs just 46 wins to pass Boand as the winningest GLIAC coach in history. Boand and Scanlon are the only two head volleyball coaches in the 46 years of Laker volleyball.
Ferris State head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm recorded her 500th win during the 2013 season, but 118 of those victories came during her previous coaching stint at West Virginia Wesleyan.
Listed below is Grand Valley State's record over the past 19 seasons against GLIAC competition, with Scanlon at the helm:
Ashland: 21-1
Ferris State: 31-13
Findlay: 18-1
Hillsdale: 23-7
Lake Erie: 4-0
Lake Superior State: 36-0
Malone: 2-0
Michigan Tech: 32-9
Northern Michigan: 20-24
Northwood: 36-13
Ohio Dominican: 4-0
Saginaw Valley State: 32-8
Tiffin: 6-0
Walsh: 2-0
Wayne State: 18-6
Total: 285-82 (.777) (Scanlon and GVSU also went 15-0 against Gannon and 13-0 versus Mercyhurst, two former GLIAC schools)
Here is a look at 10 milestone victories during Scanlon's career:
Win #1 - Sept. 1, 1995: A 3-2 home victory over Wisconsin-Parkside, which began an 11-match winning streak at the start of Scanlon's career.
Win #100 - Sept. 30, 1999: The Lakers notched a 3-1 road victory in Erie, Pa. at former GLIAC member Gannon.
Win #142 - Nov. 11, 2000: A 3-0 neutral site win over Northwood to capture the first GLIAC Tournament title during Scanlon's tenure. The Lakers dropped just one set in three matches en route to the championship.
Win #144 - Nov. 18, 2000: Exactly one week later, GVSU again defeated Northwood by a 3-0 score to clinch the program's first-ever regional championship (then the Great Lakes Region), doing so on the Lakers' home floor in Allendale. Under Scanlon, Grand Valley State has now won eight regional titles.
Win #173 - Nov. 29, 2001: After winning a second straight Great Lakes Region championship, GVSU hosted the 2001 NCAA National Championships in Allendale and defeated Mercy in the opening round by a 3-2 result. It was the first-ever win for the Lakers at the NCAA Elite Eight level.
Win #200 - Nov. 14, 2002: En route to a 32-win season, Grand Valley State swept Michigan Tech 3-0 in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament in Allendale. The Lakers also swept Northwood and Gannon to claim the tournament championship before advancing to the NCAA Final Four for the second straight year.
Win #294 - Dec. 3, 2005: Grand Valley State defeated host Nebraska-Kearney by a 3-1 final to win the first Division II National Championship in program history, while also becoming the first women's sport at GVSU to win a national title. Playing in front of a still-standing Division II record of 5,025 fans, the Lakers ended Nebraska-Kearney's 33-match win streak and its 66-match home win streak, tied for the second-longest in Division II history.
Win #300 - Sept. 2, 2006: A 3-0 victory over Northern Kentucky, a former member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and now a Division I institution. It was the sixth straight victory in a 17-match win streak during the early part of the 2006 season.
Win #400 - Oct. 17, 2009: GVSU defeated Missouri-St. Louis 3-0 at the GLIAC-GLVC Crossover Tournament during the second year of the tournament's existence.
Win #404 - Sept. 3, 2010: In the season opener, Grand Valley State upset #1 Concordia-St. Paul by a 3-0 final at the Tampa Classic in Florida. Prior to that loss, the Golden Bears - the three-time defending Division II National Champions - had won an NCAA Division II record 75 consecutive matches. That win helped propel GVSU to the Midwest Regional championship and its eighth appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.
