FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball program made a pair of additions to its coaching staff as former Villa Park High School head coach Kevin Hitt and former Long Beach State volunteer assistant coach David Butler were named assistant coaches, head coach Carolyn Zimmerman announced Tuesday.
"I am very enthusiastic about the new staff," Zimmerman said. "We can't wait to get it all together and get to work in the gym."
Hitt joins the Titans coaching staff and brings 15 years of head coaching experience at the high school level and eight years as a collegiate assistant.
"We are fortunate to have Kevin Hitt join the program as assistant coach," Zimmerman said. "He has a wealth of experience and a proven track record coaching at every level. Kevin's familiarity with the Big West was a plus and I look forward to our work together. He is a very high character guy and has a solid coaching reputation. I am looking forward to his good energy on the court and impact in the areas of recruiting, development of players and team."
Hitt amassed a 253-116 record as a head coach in high school and appeared in 11 CIF Tournaments while coaching 51 all-league student athletes. He spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Villa Park High School, leading the Spartans to a 26-5 record in 2013 to finish atop the Century League standings. Hitt coached the league's most valuable player and had four players named to the All-Century League team. The Spartans advanced to the second round in the CIF playoffs.
In his first season at the helm in 2012, Hitt led the Spartans to the first round of the CIF playoffs and coached two all-Century League players.
Hitt also served as a volunteer assistant coach for the USA Women's National Team from 2009-12. He was responsible for the implementation of practice protocols and training techniques.
Hitt also served as head coach at Canyon High School in Anaheim, Calif, for five seasons beginning in 2007. He amassed a cumulative 74-57 record during that time and led the team to three playoff appearances. He led the 2009 squad to a 17-6 record to finish second in the Century League and advanced to the second round of the CIF Playoffs. Counting his time at Villa Park, Hitt also had 17 players selected to the all-Century League while at Canyon High School.
Hitt's first high school head coaching job came at Mayfair High School in 1998, where was at the helm for seven years. He led the team to seven straight league titles and postseason appearances, going 80-0 in the Suburban League. He had 28 players selected to the all-Suburban League team along with six players named to the all-CIF Southern Section team.
On the collegiate level, Hitt has served as an assistant coach at Northern Michigan (1991-93), Rice (1994-95), Cal State Dominguez Hills (1998-2000) and most recently at Long Beach State (2004-06). In eight years as a collegiate assistant coach, Hitt coached 10 All-Americans and two NCAA Players of the Year.
He helped lead Cal State Dominguez Hills to 16 victories in 1999, the most wins for the program since 1983. At Northern Michigan, Hitt was part of a coaching staff that led the Wildcats to the consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship games in 1992 and 1993, winning the title in its second trip.
In his time at Long Beach State, the 49ers won the Big West Conference title in 2005 and made the NCAA Tournament.
Hitt earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in single-subject secondary English from National University and is projected to receive his master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University in August.
As for Butler, he served one season as the volunteer assistant coach for Long Beach State in 2013. Butler was also a part of the Long Beach State Sand Volleyball coaching staff, serving as the team's lead assistant coach.
"I am thrilled to have Dave Butler joining our staff at Cal State Fullerton," Zimmerman said. "He has the qualities that I felt would fit well for this assistant coaching position. David has spent some significant time of his coaching career developing as a coach and growing players at club powerhouse, 'Sports Performance'. He will definitely be tapping into some of his established recruiting ties in the Midwest and bringing in some of his newly acquired knowledge gained while working for crosstown rival Long Beach State."
Prior to his time at Long Beach State, Butler worked with the Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Aurora, Ill. beginning in 2003. He worked as an assistant to Rick Butler and the 18 Elite team. He also led a pair of teams to bronze medal finishes at the 18 Open (2012) and 18 Club (2013) AAU National Championships. He also coached four AAU All-Americans and a national high school player of the year.
In 2009, Butler worked briefly at Michigan State as a camp volleyball coach and served as a student assistant coach for women's volleyball at Western Illinois where he helped lead the team to three consecutive conference tournament appearances, the only three in the school's history.
Butler went on to become an assistant coach at Rosary High School in Aurora and helped lead the program to its 10th consecutive regional title.
As a player, Butler was a five-year starter at outside hitter for the Western Illinois Club Volleyball team and was a three-year team captain as well as a player-coach and earned conference player of the year honors. He would graduate in 2009 and earn his Bachelor of Science in kinesiology.