July 9, 2012

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois volleyball assistant coach David Kniffin has been named the head men's coach for the UC-Irvine Anteaters. Kniffin spent the 2011 season as an assistant for the Fighting Illini, helping lead the program to its first appearance in the national championship match.

Kniffin graduated from UCI with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and was the starting setter for the Anteaters in 2002 and 2003, leading the team to its first ever no. 1 national ranking. He ranks fifth on the school's career assist list with 2,806. Kniffin spent five seasons as an assistant coach there, helping UCI win national titles in both 2007 and 2009. Irvine won the most recent national title as well.

Kniffin is the second coach in as many seasons to move from assistant at Illinois into a prominent head coaching position. Kent Miller, who served as an assistant at Illinois in 2009 and 2010, was named the head women's coach at Saint Louis University in 2011.

"While I will certainly miss Dave, I'm really excited for him as well," Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly said. "Men's head coaching jobs are few and far between. He'll do a fantastic job there and has a bright future ahead of him."