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Montana volleyball coach Jerry Wagner enters his third season with the Grizzlies in 2008. Hired on May 5, 2006, Wagner has led the Grizzlies to a two-year record of 22-31 (15-17 in Big Sky Conference matches).
Wagner led an immediate turnaround of the Montana volleyball program’s fortunes in his first season.
In his first year as a head coach after 18 as an assistant coach or associate head coach, including three with Montana (1988-90), Wagner guided UM to a 9-7 Big Sky Conference mark in 2006. The Grizzlies finished fourth in the league and advanced to their first Big Sky tournament since 2000.
Montana's 9-7 conference record (12-15 overall) was its best since 1999, and its fourth-place league finish was its highest since 1996. The Grizzlies had gone 12-58 in five seasons of Big Sky play between 2001 and '05, then nearly matched that win total in Wagner's first season.
Wagner coached Claudia Houle to first team All-Big Sky Conference honors in his first season. Houle became the first Grizzly to receive first team honors since Dana Bennish in 1996.
Montana went 10-16 in Wagner’s second season (2007), missing the final Big Sky Conference tournament spot by a game after finishing 6-10 in league play. Wagner’s young squad’s tournament hopes were hurt by a 0-5 record in five-game matches. All five losses came at the hands of teams that finished in the top four in the Big Sky.
Despite missing the tournament, the team had numerous individual accolades.
Jaimie Thibeault was named the 2007 Big Sky Conference Outstanding Freshman, Montana’s first recipient of that award since 1989. Thibeault was also a second team All-Big Sky pick, the Grizzlies’ first freshman to earn first or second team All-BSC honors.
Wagner also coached two honorable mention All-Big Sky players and placed four on the 2007 Academic All-Big Sky Conference team.
Wagner's Division I coaching experience began in 1988 when he was hired by Dick Scott to serve as an assistant with Montana. Wagner helped UM to two 20-win seasons in his three years with the Grizzlies (1988-90) and the program's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1990.
Wagner took an assistant job at Oregon State following the 1990 season. He spent eight years as an assistant with the Beavers, working for Dave Gantt in 1991 and '92 and Jeff Mozzochi from 1993 to '98.
In eight seasons at OSU, Wagner's teams won 125 matches and earned trips to the Women's Invitational Volleyball Championship (WIVC) in 1993 and '94.
Following the 1998 season, Wagner reunited with Gantt at Montana State. Wagner was the top assistant with the Bobcats for four seasons (1999-2002), then became the associate head coach under current MSU coach Miya Malauulu for the 2003 and '04 seasons.
In six years with the Bobcats, Wagner was part of teams that went 117-54.
Wagner spent the 2005 season as an assistant at Gonzaga, where he helped the Bulldogs to their best record in a decade.
Born in Havre, Mont., Wagner was the youngest of four children. He was a 1979 graduate of Havre High School, where he wrestled and played tennis, football and basketball.
Wagner's coaching career started the fall of his first year in college, 1979, when he was a student assistant coach for the Northern Montana College (now Montana State-Northern) volleyball program. He coached for two seasons (1979-80) before graduating with an associate degree in drafting.
After working as a draftsman in the private sector for two years, Wagner enrolled again at Northern Montana (NMC) in the fall of 1983. He graduated in 1986 with a degree in secondary education and an extended major in physical education.
Fully immersed in coaching volleyball, Wagner spent the next four falls (1983-86) as an assistant at NMC and spent the 1985, '86 and '87 winters as the first head coach at Havre High.
In 1987 Wagner served as the head coach at Northern Montana before joining Scott's staff at Montana in 1988.
Wagner's Coaching Resume
Assistant coach, Northern Montana College ... Six seasons, 1979-80, 83-86
Head coach, Havre High School ... Three (winter) seasons 1985-1987
Head coach, Northern Montana College ... One season, 1987
Assistant coach, University of Montana ... Three seasons, 1988-90
Assistant coach, Oregon State University ... Eight seasons, 1991-98
Assistant coach, Montana State University ... Four seasons, 1999-2002
Associate head coach, Montana State University ... Two seasons, 2003-04
Assistant coach, Gonzaga University ... One season, 2005
Head coach, University of Montana ... Third season, 2006-present
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