THIS WEEKEND: The RedHawks continue their season by traveling to the Dunn Hospitality Tournament Friday, Sept. 6-7. Miami will begin the tournament against Samford at 2 p.m. Friday and follow this up with another match versus Chicago State at 5 p.m. The RedHawks close out the weekend versus tournament host Evansville at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. 

ABOUT SAMFORD: Keylor Chan enters his eighth year at the helm of the program. The Bulldogs went 2-0 last weekend against Alcorn State (3-0) and Mississippi State (3-2). Samford was selected to finish second in the 2024 Southern Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll. Outside hitters Gracie Lynn Butler and Kaleigh Meritt made the preseason All-SoCon team. The all-time series is 1-0 in favor of Samford. The last time Miami took on Samford, the RedHawks fell 3-0 on Aug. 25, 2023. 

ABOUT CHICAGO STATE: Chicago State is led by head coach Tony Trifonov who is in his fifth season with the Cougars. The Cougars dropped to Bowling Green and Cincinnati in their opening weekend. The all-time series is 4-0 in favor of the Red and White. The last time Chicago State and Miami faced off, the RedHawks secured a 3-0 win on Sept. 8, 2012. 

ABOUT EVANSVILLE: Evansville is led by head coach Fernando Morales. Morales enters his sixth season with the Purple Aces. Evansville is 1-2 on the season, defeating the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras 3-1 last weekend. Miami leads the all-time series 4-2. The RedHawks dropped to Evansville 3-1 on Sept. 10, 2021.

TELEVISION: Miami versus Evansville will be available to watch on ESPN+.

UP NEXT: The Red and White travel to the Popcorn Classic (hosted by Valparaiso) on Sept. 13-14.

NORFOLK STATE INVITATIONAL: The Red and White won the Norfolk State Invitational last weekend after going 3-0 on the weekend. Miami took a 3-0 season-opening win against Lamar University, swept Gardner-Webb 3-0 and secured a 3-1 victory over tournament host Norfolk State. Redshirt junior outside hitter Ava Francis was named the Norfolk State Tournament MVP. She finished with 33 kills, an average of 3.30 per set, and also contributed four blocks. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by redshirt sophomore libero Anna McClure, who totaled 41 digs (4.10 per set) and added nine assists.

FINDING THEIR FIT: Two of this season's newcomers that will be counted on to make an immediate impact for Gwitt's first Miami team are Power Five transfers: Ava Francis and Anna McClure. Both players join the RedHawks with multiple years of eligibility remaining (two for Francis and three for McClure) and have bought in right away to Gwitt's vision for the program. To learn more about their story, click here!

THE RAEGAN LANTZ STORY: Raegan Lantz knows exactly when she decided she wanted to play volleyball in college. However, getting to this point hasn't been easy for Lantz. That's because her eighth-grade year wasn't just when she decided to pursue a future in collegiate volleyball. Eighth grade was also when Lantz started battling Type 1 diabetes. To learn more about Raegan's story, click here!

STRONG RETURNS: The Red and White return 12 of 15 players from the 2023 season. Seniors Caroline Cermack, Margo Lawson and Gracie Norris lead a solid veteran group. They are joined by juniors Ellie Hanson, Hayden Hicks, Emily Morgan and Gentry Warrick. The sophomore class is comprised of Raegan Lantz, Breannah Peterson and Chelsea Williams. Also returning is redshirt-junior Brooke Jackson and redshirt-sophomore Amyah Cooper.

FRESH ON THE SCENE: First-year head coach Dan Gwitt prepares for the 2024 season with three new assistant coaches, Kristina Fultz, Amanda Chamberlain and Haley Davidson. Nine newcomers will be joining the Miami roster as well. These RedHawks include Sophie Crawford, Ava Francis, Karina May, Anna McClure, Tate Mercer, Lydia Michelin, Ana Vetter, Jess Walkenhorst and Micah Wall.

GWITT GEARING UP FOR DEBUT SEASON: When the fifth head coach in Miami Volleyball history met his players for the first time in early February to introduce himself, it didn't take long for the RedHawks to get to work. And while it's been a whirlwind for Gwitt since day one, including finalizing a roster, hiring assistant coaches, updating the locker room, building a culture and finishing a schedule, he is ecstatic about where things stand for the program heading into his first season at the helm. Check out the feature story here!

SPECIAL PROGRAM, SPECIAL PLACE: Dan Gwitt was ready to take the next step. After a journey in volleyball that's included playing at Penn State, serving as the youngest Division I head coach in the country at Centenary, excelling as a recruiter and assistant at Indiana and then most recently returning to his alma mater for the past two seasons, Gwitt felt it was time to move on from Happy Valley and be a college head coach again if the right job opened up. Miami University was the perfect opportunity. To catch up on his decision to become the next head coach of the Miami Volleyball team, click here!

GWITT ERA: Miami University Director of Athletics David Sayler announced Dan Gwitt as the fifth head coach in Miami Volleyball history. Gwitt comes to Oxford after serving the past two years as an assistant coach at Penn State, his alma mater. Gwitt was part of back-to-back trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2023 and helped sign a top-10 recruiting class in each of his two years on Penn State's staff. The Nittany Lions produced a total of seven All-Big Ten players and two AVCA All-Americans during Gwitt's tenure, finishing with a win-loss record of 49-17 over that span. Gwitt spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Indiana. In his first season with the Hoosiers, the team's defense improved in total blocks from 277th in the nation to 15th and improved its conference record by six wins from the previous campaign. Gwitt coached two All-Big Ten players and also helped ink the top recruiting class in program history, including IU's first-ever Under Armour All-Americans. Gwitt began his coaching career at Centenary College, which was then a Division I program in the Summit League. Gwitt became Centenary's interim head coach in 2007, making him the youngest Division I head coach in the country at the time. He spent three seasons with the Pride, coaching more than 70 matches by the age of 24. In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Gwitt served as the director of operations and master coach for two of the largest and most successful clubs in Southern California between 2009 and 2018. He took multiple teams to the Open Division for the Girls Junior National Championships. All of those teams finished in the Division 1 SCVA rankings, including a 17s team that finished as the top ranked team in the SCVA. Originally hailing from Eden, New York, Gwitt graduated from Penn State in 2007 with a degree in communication arts and sciences. During his time as a member of the men's volleyball team under the guidance of current head coach Mark Pavlik, he helped the Nittany Lions clinch the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Championship and make a memorable trip to the NCAA Final Four.

MIAMI BY THE NUMBERS
904    All-Time Wins
401    All-Time MAC Wins
14    NCAA/NIVC Postseason Appearances
12    Regular-Season MAC Titles
12    RedHawk Returners
7    MAC Tournament Titles
9    RedHawk Newcomers
5     Head Coaches All-Time