Women's Volleyball | 1/30/2023 10:58:00 AM
January 30, 2023-Ken Murczek, a coach with a record of turning programs around at all levels has been selected as the eighth head volleyball coach in Emporia State history.
"I want to thank David Spafford and the members of the search committee for giving me the opportunity to coach at Emporia State," said Murczek. "Volleyball is important in the MIAA. I cannot wait to get with the team and start building our vision of where Hornet volleyball can go in the future."
Murczek has head coaching experience at all levels of volleyball from junior college to NCAA Division I Power 5 level.
"We had a very thorough process that we went through as the Division I and II post seasons were winding down. Ken's name kept rising to the top throughout the process," said Spafford. "His experiences of building programs and bringing them success was one of the criteria that we were looking for in addition to someone who has experience and relationships here in the Midwest. Finally, we were looking for someone who is able to prepare their teams to play into the post season. Ken has done that throughout his career."
Murczek just completed his third season at Oregon Tech where he went 51-27 with a trip to the NAIA National Tournament in 2021. He took Oregon Tech to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history in 2021. Along the way the Owls defeated Westmont (Calif.) in front of a home crowd of 1,151 fans on Danny Miles Court. The year ended with a school record for single season wins on the way to a #21 final ranking in the 2021 NAIA Coaches Poll. The Owls received two All-American and seven All-Cascade Conference honors in his three years.Â
"I want to thank Oregon Tech for the last three years," said Murczek. "My family will cherish those times for the rest of our lives."
Prior to Oregon Tech he spent three seasons as the assistant coach at his alma mater San Diego State University. He was the head men's coach at the University of Charleston and tripled their win total from the previous season. Murczek served as the head women's coach at Wake Forest from 2013-15 and in his first season saw a five win increase from the year before. Wake Forest was 29-9 outside the ACC during his three seasons.
He made the jump to the Power 5 after three seasons at North Texas. In his first stint as a NCAA Division I head coach, the Mean Green won a pair of Sun Belt West Division titles, including a school record-tying 26 wins including a trip to the Sun Belt Tournament finals in 2012. Murczek was 63-42 (.600) at North Texas for the best winning percentage in school history.
No stranger to the Sunflower State Murczek was an assistant at Kansas from 2008-09. The Jayhawks improved their NCAA RPI ranking from 112th to 53rd in his two seasons. Nine of KU's 20 Big 12 matches in 2009 were against Top 25 teams including a 3-1 win over then #21 Baylor.
In addition to his time in Lawrence, Murczek spent time as an assistant at the University of Virginia, Western Michigan and Purdue. While at Purdue in 2004 the Boilermakers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years and upset then #9 Colorado State in the first round.
Murczek spent two seasons as the head coach at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind. from 2002-03. In his first season doubled their conference win total and advanced to the GLVC Tournament for the first time in three years.
He began his collegiate coaching career at Cuyamaca College in San Diego, Calif. where he led the team to their first conference tournament bid in school history.
In addition to his coaching resume, Murczek has enjoyed success as a player at all levels. He was an All-State selection at Marist HS in Chicago in 1993. Â He began his collegiate volleyball career at Lewis University before transferring to Division I San Diego State, where his team received top 15 votes during his senior season. Murczek finished ranked fifth in the country in digs per game. He then went on to the University of Arizona where his club volleyball team won back-to-back national championships.
After college, Murczek played four seasons of professional six person indoor volleyball in Switzerland, Germany, France, and Indonesia. He has also competed in several beach volleyball tournaments during the summer months throughout the United States.
The Chicago, Ill. native earned his B.S. in kinesiology from San Diego State University in 1998 before going on to earn a master's in teaching and teacher education from the University of Arizona in 2000. Murczek also holds a masters in sport management from Western Michigan in 2007. He earned his Ed.D. in kinesiology from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2019.
Murczek and his wife, Jennifer, married in August 2007.
"I'm a lucky guy in that I get to wake up every day and do something I love in coaching volleyball," said Murczek.
Murczek follows Bing Xu, who stepped down as the head coach at Emporia State following the 2022 season.Â
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Emporia State will hold a press conference to formally introduce Murczek on Wednesday, February 1 at 2:30 p.m.
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