Volleyball team acquires
familiar assistant coach
By Matt Ryan
Staff Writer
When looking for a new assistant coach for the
women's volleyball team, Purdue coach Jeff Hulsmeyer had to look no
farther than the top of his list.
Hulsmeyer, an assistant at Illinois from 1996 to
1998, saw Denise Baez — also a former Illinois assistant —
as the most qualified for the job.
"Denise clearly stuck out as far as the most qualified
candidate," said Hulsmeyer. "She has Big Ten experience, I have worked
with her before and she also had a prior relationship with our other
staff member (assistant coach) Laura Leaton, as a player."
Baez has played and coached at many levels of her
career. During her college career at Arkansas, Baez coached at many
summer camps.
After graduating from college, Baez coached Sports
Express, a small junior club volleyball team in Mason, Ohio. During
this time she also served as an assistant coach at Cincinnati. In April
1998, Baez joined the Illinois staff as an assistant coach and served
there until February of 2000.
"Denise really brings a lot to the court and the
training environment," Hulsmeyer said. "She is a good trainer, she has
played at a very high level of play herself in the past and she has
also coached at a very high level.
Baez will be an asset when it comes to recruiting,
Hulsmeyer said.
"She is a very personable person," he said. "She
just has a very high level of integrity that really shines especially
when you first meet her. She is overall just a great asset to bring
into our program with those qualities."
Leaton thinks the energy Baez is going to bring
will help lift the team.
"She loves coaching and she is a go-getter," said
Leaton. "I expect that she is going to take the bull by the horns and
go when she gets here on Feb. 12. I think she is going to help our program
because she has a great personality, she's a hard worker and she is
very good friends with Jeff and I."
Baez will be in charge of the in-state recruiting,
player appearances and team compliance issues. Both Hulsmeyer and Leaton
hope to see Baez take charge quickly in these areas.
"The immediate impact is going to be at the training
of our current athletes in the gym," said Hulsmeyer. "Denise has played
the middle hitter and the outside hitter positions, and I think she
will be able to come in and make an impact with our players in that
aspect."
Hulsmeyer and Leaton said Baez will be able to
get to work right away and won't have to adjust to being comfortable
with the other coaches because of her prior relationships with them.
Leaton coached Baez at Arkansas and the two became
good friends. During her stay at Illinois as an assistant coach Baez
worked with Hulsmeyer before he came to West Lafayette.
"Because we have coached together before, she is
already familiar with the type of system of things that I like to do,"
said Hulsmeyer. "She is also very familiar with the techniques, so we
will not have to train her at all. She should be able to make an impact
on this incoming team during training.
"She is very familiar with our opponents and that
should help in our match preparation," said Hulsmeyer "She will also
be able to bring in a good amount of knowledge on the defensive side
of the ball."
Baez said she feels she can use her skills to help
better this Purdue team.
"I am excited about coming to Purdue," said Baez.
"I feel I can use my experiences as a player and a coach to help achieve
the team's goals and make an immediate impact with recruiting."
Baez is currently in Las Vegas, but she did visit
with the team recently. Her attendance at an early-morning workout drew
the respect of Purdue's players right away.
"We had just finished running the last of our many,
many sprints and we could barely breath," senior-to-be Christy Case
said. "She seemed real great, real fun and real positive. We can't wait
for her to get here."
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