Women's Volleyball Release

DEBBY COLBERG TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE AVCA HALL OF FAME THIS THURSDAY

12/10/2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Recently retired Sacramento State volleyball head coach Debby Colberg will be inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Hall of Fame this Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Sacramento.

The event will take place on the third-floor Center Ballroom of the Sacramento Convention Center on Thursday from 11 a.m. to approximately 1:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchases for $45 at the registration desk on the first floor of the Convention Center, and limited seats are available. The registration desk will be open Tuesday from 1-7 p.m., Wednesday from 8 a.m.-9 p.m., and Thursday from 7 a.m. until the event begins.

The ceremony will include the AVCA’s Victory Club Awards, the Regional Coach of the Year Awards, the announcement of the Div. I National Coach of the Year, and the Hall of Fame inductions. Colberg was named the Pacific Region Coach of the Year last week.

The Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon is being held in conjunction with this week’s AVCA Annual Convention and the NCAA Div. I Women’s Volleyball Championships in Sacramento. Colberg will be inducted along with Penn State’s Russ Rose and Steve Shondell of Muncie Burris Laboratory High School. Rose’s Nittany Lions will take on Cal later on Thursday in the second semifinal of the day at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Colberg just completed a remarkable 32-year career at Sacramento State that included an 828-292 record (.739 winning percentage) along with two national titles, 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, 18 conference championships and 17 coach of the year awards. Her teams have posted 30 winning seasons during her 32-year tenure, and the team has made six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 in the last 11 years.

This season, Colberg was named the Big Sky’s Coach of the Year for the eighth time in 11 years, and led the Hornets to a 29-8 overall record, a 13-3 conference mark, a Big Sky regular season and tournament championship, and a second round appearance at the NCAA Tournament.

Colberg owns the best career winning percentage of any sport at Sacramento State, and her 828 victories are fourth among active NCAA Div I head women’s volleyball coaches. She also had the added responsibility of serving as Sacramento State’s Athletics Director, a position she held from February of 1999 until June of 2002.