Aug. 31, 2011
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By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The 2011 non-conference slate for the UCF volleyball team features some tough teams early in the season for the Knights, including two that head coach Todd Dagenais is extremely familiar with. Having been an assistant on both the Michigan State and Southern California staff prior to his arrival in Orlando, Dagenais is happy to see some familiar faces, but knows the competition both teams bring is what really matters early in the season.
The Spartans' appearance at the Courtyard by Marriott/UCF Classic was a welcomed first-weekend test for the Knights as Dagenais feels they are one of the most athletic teams in the Big 10 conference. Coaching in East Lansing, Mich., from 1998-2003, Dagenais' familiarity with the staff has dwindled, but his fondness for the school hasn't changed.
"Since I had been at Michigan State there has been a complete staff changeover and a complete personnel changeover," Dagenais said. "Both my wife and I have a ton of allegiance to Michigan State as both of our parents taught there. I spent seven of the best years of my life there and we think very fondly upon the athletic department."
In his time as Associate Head Volleyball Coach at MSU, teams Dagenais worked with competed in the NCAA Tournament all five seasons during his tenure.
As a part of the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament this weekend, Dagenais will face his second former team in USC Friday at 11:30 a.m. Before assuming the post at UCF, Dagenais spent three seasons as the assistant head coach at USC where he helped guide the Trojans to a 29-5 record and a trip to the 2007 NCAA Final Four for the fourth time in six seasons.
"Southern California is different in some ways (than Michigan State)," Dagenais said. "Everything is still the same as some of the players that I had contact with during the recruiting process are there. We grew very close to that coaching staff and players there at USC through a great European trip and through the daily grind that you go through with a program that is trying to compete at a national level."
Although Dagenais is excited to take on his former colleagues, the fourth-year head coach knows that taking on the No. 3 team in the nation is an opportunity for his team to matchup against a legitimate national contender.
"Meeting up with Southern California is not a reunion or a meeting up with buddies," Dagenais said. "It is an opportunity for our team to play one of the best, if not the best, team in the nation. It's an opportunity for USC to be a measuring stick of who we are and where we want to go. It is about our program being on the floor against one of the best in the country in an effort to see who we want to become."
With Conference USA bringing back the league tournament at the end of the 2012 regular season, Dagenais can't stress enough the importance of scheduling quality opponents in order to give his team the best chance at moving up the RPI rankings along with some wins.
"We have to go out and beat teams that are in contention to win their conference title. We have to go and give ourselves an opportunity to beat a middle-ranked team in a mega conference because those wins are what ultimately separate you on selection Sunday."
For Dagenais, these two early-season matchups between familiar foes are just another chance for his team to see what they are striving to become.