DePaul University

CHICAGO   Barrington, Ill. native Matthew Jennings joined the DePaul volleyball staff as an assistant coach it was announced today by Blue Demon head coach Amy Hardison.

"We are excited to welcome Matt to the DePaul volleyball family," Hardison said.  "A former student-athlete, and an experienced coach, Matt brings a winning attitude and a degree of mental toughness that is hard to find and will benefit our program greatly.

"Growing up in Barrington, Matt has a great advantage as he is familiar with DePaul as well as the surrounding high school and club programs," Hardison added.  

As a Blue Demon assistant, Jennings will serve as the recruiting and travel coordinator and specialize in the development of the student-athletes in the gym.

Prior to joining the Blue Demons, Jennings spent one season as an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky and was the head men's coach at St. Ambrose from 2004-06. 

As an assistant coach at Eastern Kentucky, Jennings served as the recruiting coordinator and was responsible for match preparation, travel, home event management, camps and served as an academic liaison for the volleyball team. 

During Jennings stint at EKU he helped mentor Brittany Nobilio, the NCAA record holder for digs per game.  Nobilio also ranks third all-time in career digs. 

Jennings got his collegiate coaching start at St. Ambrose University, where he was the head men's volleyball coach and the head women's junior varsity coach.  He also assisted with the women’s varsity squad.  During his tenure at the NAIA school he doubled the size of the men's program and helped the program transition into the Mid-American Men's Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference (MAMVIC).

In just his first season at the helm of the program, Jennings led his squad a second place finish in the Chicagoland Collegiate Volleyball Association Conference. During that same season, his squad was ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA volleyball poll for six consecutive weeks. While at St. Ambrose he coached five all-conference selections and the 2005 Newcomer of the Year.

Jennings got his first taste of coaching volleyball on the international level in May of 2008 when he served as head coach of a USA Athletes International Men’s Team that competed in the Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament in Perth, Scotland.  The team posted a 5-0 record and won the tournament by beating the Scottish National Team in the final match.  He is slated to take the same team to compete in Holland in June of 2009.

As an undergraduate at Augustana College, Jennings was a four-year starter and two time captain of the DII Club squad. He led Augustana to three National Intramural Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA) top-10 finishes and was named All-Conference as well as the team MVP as a senior.

An outside hitter and three-year varsity starter for Barrington High School from 1995-99, Jennings was named a co-captain, MVP, All-Area and All-Conference selection as a senior. 

Jennings was a member of Sky High and Shoreline Volleyball Clubs, where he competed in four USAV National Championships Tournaments.

He earned his bachelor of arts in business administration from Augustana in 2003 and received his MBA from St. Ambrose in 2006.

Jennings comes from a long line of athletes, his grandfather, Jack Jennings was an All-American defensive lineman at Ohio State University and spent eight seasons with the NFL's Chicago Cardinals. Jennings’ mother Teresa was a multi-sport athlete at UW-Whitewater, while his sister Kelly, spent her collegiate days at Eastern Kentucky and holds the EKU and Ohio Valley Conference record for career and single season assists.