John Hired to Lead BU Men’s Volleyball
After a season of no competition, the Bluefield University men’s volleyball team is back under new leadership.
Men’s volleyball head coach Alfonso Alvarez left the team prior to the spring 2023 season, and most of the squad’s returning players transferred to other schools in the wake of Alvarez’s departure, leaving just three players on the roster, not enough to field a team for competition.
But the Rams are back for the spring 2024 season under the direction of new head coach Keven John, who came to BU from NCAA Division II Glenville State University where he coached the women’s volleyball team for two years. Originally from Colorado, John declined an offer to play men’s volleyball at Brigham Young University so that he could begin his coaching career as a student coach at Colorado Northwestern Community College. He later coached at Snow College in Utah, Western State Colorado University, and Northern Vermont University-Johnson before landing at Glenville State.
“After we (his wife Dana who he met at Snow College) got married, we asked what do we want out of life,” John said in a statement to the BU Sports Information Office. “What do we want to get out of our next 40 years? And both of us wanted land, the ability to be in the country, and the way Colorado was, we just couldn’t afford it anymore. I started looking for the right climate, what we wanted, hills, country, and I kind of targeted West Virginia, western Virginia, and western North Carolina as where we wanted to be. So, I just started applying for jobs in those areas and researching and ended up in Glenville.”
He said he took the job at Bluefield because he wanted something more faith-based, and Bluefield was what he was looking for. His first and most challenging task as head coach: recruiting a full roster.
“That’s going to be a challenge right there, just finding numbers, and obviously quality numbers is something that is going to be a challenge, too.” John told the BU Sports Information Office. “The plan is to get some transfers where we are not just bringing in a huge freshman class. We are trying to mix it up and create kind of a traditional looking team right from the get go.”
One of those transfers is junior Kyle Pietrzak, who said he’s excited about being a part of this new chapter in BU men’s volleyball.
“Coach John is the reason I came to Bluefield,” Pietrzak said. “He is so knowledgeable. I am excited to be a part of something new in Bluefield.”
Noah Clements, a senior transfer, also likes the impact John has already had on BU men’s volleyball, saying “he is growing the first year team into a huge competitor that will take this conference by storm.”
The men’s volleyball team under John’s leadership begins pre-season action on January 2. The team’s first official match of 2023 will be in February.