SALEM, Ore. – Corban University Director of Athletics Bill Pilgeram has announced the hiring of Dan Stephens and Avari Ridgway to lead the Warrior Beach Volleyball program into the next era of national success as the Head Coach and Associate Head Coach, respectively.

"Dan has been an integral part of our beach program from the very beginning," Pilgeram stated on his newly appointed head coach. "He has the maturity and experience to continue leading this program at a national level. Dan is well-loved by the team and his deep connections in the beach volleyball scene will serve the program quite well."

Pilgeram carried on about the two new hires by discussing the addition of Ridgway to the staff by sharing, "Avari has made her mark on the Corban volleyball scene as a player, and I am confident that she will be a tremendous asset to the beach program as a coach. Her love for Corban is obvious and she will continue to offer her trademark energy and passion to the program. She and Dan together will make a perfect coaching pair and provide everything the team will need from their coaching staff."

According to Pilgeram, the dual hiring of Stephens and Ridgway will cover all the bases necessary to see the success of the beach volleyball program continue at the highest possible level. Stephens will be handling a majority of the administrative and operational duties while focusing on student-athlete management as the head coach, while Ridgway will be more hands on with skill development and recruiting within the program.

Stephens graduated high school from Santiam Christian in 1984 before choosing to attend Linn-Benton Community College after earning his diploma. After his time as a Road Runner, Stephens decided to follow in his families' footsteps, who has owned and operated a concrete construction company, by beginning a self-starter concrete business of his own at 24 years old that he has owned and operated now for over thirty-three years.

Prior to his time at Santiam Christian, Stephens learned to play volleyball at Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada during his sophomore and junior years. He's played men's club volleyball ever since for over twenty-five years, but his true passion is on the sand courts. He worked his way into the AA level and has been laying at the Master's level for ten years now.

He has coached club volleyball for over eleven seasons and was even the assistant coach for current Corban indoor volleyball head coach Kim McLain when she was the head coach at Santiam Christian. Stephens has worked collegiate camps for NCAA DI schools Washington State University and Oregon State University alongside his continuous support of numerous and volleyball clinics for North Pacific Juniors.

Stephens has been with the Corban beach volleyball program since the inaugural season in 2020 as the top assistant coach, supporting the Warriors' climb to the top of the NAIA as the National Champions in 2022 and National Runner-Up program just this past spring. He's married to his wife Tina of thirty-four years and has two children who have grown up and left the nest, Tye and Tani.

"I am very grateful to have this opportunity to stay with the Corban beach program and continue to build on the program's success," Stephens said. "That being said, I know there is a great deal more going on with our student-athletes than wins, losses, records, or national recognition. There is a real hunger for spiritual growth and a desire to invest in each other's lives. I am humbled by the opportunity to help with this growth, and I trust the Lord will guide me in leading these players."

When asked to speak more on his coaching style, Stephens shared, "I am a very fundamentals oriented coach and we will train hard, work rigorously to develop better beach skills, and use that same energy and preparation in our spiritual lives."

Ridgway is no stranger to Warrior Nation, as she just completed her final season of eligibility with the indoor volleyball and beach volleyball programs at Corban over the 2022-23 school year where she put an exclamation point on a storied career. She originally arrived at Corban in the fall of 2018, playing five years of indoor as an everyday starter and began her short but eventful career in the sand during the spring of 2022.

As an indoor volleyball star, Ridgway was named an NAIA All-American on multiple occasions, appearing up and down the Corban record books in numerous categories that includes a second place spot in career kills (1,632) and third place finish in career blocks (309). In the sand, she was named to the NAIA All-Tournament Team on both trips to the NAIA National Invitational and was most recently named to the NAIA Pair of the Year in 2023 alongside teammate and partner Megan Dennis. She holds multiple single season and career records for the beach program and was integral in the Warriors' first team national championship in school history during the 2022 campaign.

In her short coaching career, Ridgway coached multiple camps of both the indoor and beach variety, ranging from middle school, high school, college hopefuls, and collegiate student-athletes. She has also engaged in numerous Art of Coaching campaigns she has learned invaluable tips and expertise on how to help student-athletes grow. She currently resides in Salem where she works as a marketing coordinator for a local design build firm. Ridgway loves to spend time with her family camping and being around water alongside playing tennis and going on walks with her dog.

"I'm so excited about this opportunity to continue to be a part of Corban Athletics," Ridgway shared. "I learned so much in my five years as a player and I hope to use that knowledge now as a coach. Being a part of. A successful program teaches you a lot of important lessons, and I hope to share those with our student-athletes moving forward. Corban means so much to me and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Dan and I care a lot about this program and the girls that are a part of it, we can't wait to see where this season goes!"

Stephens and Ridgway are set to begin in their new roles effective immediately, as the dynamic duo begins to prepare for the Warriors third season as an NAIA invitational sport and quite possibly their third-consecutive national championship match appearance.

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