PITTSBURG – Pittsburg State University head volleyball coach Megan Besecker announced today (May 1) that Erin Pavlin has been hired as the Gorillas assistant coach. Pavlin replaces former assistant coach Kennedy Shelstead who was introduced as the new Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Division I North Texas earlier this spring.

“I am excited to have Erin join us here at Pitt State,” Besecker said. “She has a lot of coaching experiences at many different levels, and I look forward to all of her knowledge she will bring to the program.”

Pavlin comes to Pitt State after spending the past two seasons at the University of Akron, a Division I program that competes in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). She joins the Gorillas after 11 years of coaching experience, including six years as a head coach at the club level.

Prior to Akron, Pavlin served at Trinity Valley Community College in Texas where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Lady Cardinals. Pavlin helped turn the program from an 8-8 conference record in her first season to an undefeated 16-0 conference showing in year two. In 2022, she helped coach TVCC to a conference title and a Region 14 championship before finishing eighth in the country at the NJCAA National Tournament.

Pavlin has nine seasons of club coaching experience, coaching for H2 out of St. Louis, Mo., and Norco in Colorado. Her 2016 H2 team finished 16-1 and qualified for the Asics Junior National Championship. Over her six years at Norco, Pavlin led teams to medals at multiple USAV national qualified and learned under former Ohio State head coach Jim Stone.

During her time as a student-athlete at Columbia College, Pavlin competed in two NAIA D1 national championship games, finishing on runner-up teams in 2010 and 2012. In her sophomore season (2011), the team finished third in the NAIA; and Columbia was a top-10 program in the NAIA during her senior campaign in 2013. Pavlin earned All-Conference and All-Academic honors during her time at Columbia, winning the Champions of Character Award in 2013.

Pavlin earned a bachelor’s in business administration degree from Columbia College in 2014. She is completing a master’s degree in sports science from Akron.

Head coach Mike Markovic is very pleased with the performance of his IRHS boys’ volleyball team.

The Indians emerged from spring break with their sixth straight win, 3-0, over visiting Henlopen Conference rival Smyrna on Tuesday, April 29.

Indian River improved its record to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play after winning in straight sets by the scores of 25-17 twice and 25-18 once.

“Our overall team defense is much better than last year,” said Markovic, who is in his second season as the squad’s bench boss. “We have three or four strong hitters who can consistently hit winners. And, our upperclassmen have provided steady leadership. We have also proven that we can win close matches.”

This year’s team’s strengths are setting, strong outside hitters, and good overall defense, said Markovic, who is assisted by Jay Clark and Chad Zook.

“Our serving was very inconsistent earlier in the season, but has improved recently,” he said. “Service receive, blocking, and out of system play are areas where we can improve.”

The Indians play their last five games through May 7. “One game is against undefeated Caesar Rodney, who beat us earlier this season at their gym,” he said. “We also have an important match against our nearby rival, Cape Henlopen. Winning a majority of these matches is critical to qualifying for the state playoff championship, having a low seed, and hosting a first round match.”

GULF SHORES, Ala. (WPMI) — Baldwin County beach tourism is getting a boost between the busy spring break and summer seasons. Gulf Shores is once again hosting the NCAA beach volleyball championship. The tournament gets underway on Friday. There are 16 NCAA Division 1 teams competing for the top spot. It was set to be played in Huntington Beach, California this year and next year, but the event returned to Alabama due to devastating wildfires. It will be played in Gulf Shores through 2031.

“We’ve been fortunate to have the beach volleyball national championship since its inception in 2016,” said Gulf Shores spokesman Grant Brown.

Gulf Shores has become a hot spot for hosting beach volleyball. Two weeks ago, the AVCA Small College Beach Volleyball Championship played there, and right now, junior nationals are in town competing next to the NCAA national championship. It’s not just volleyball, the state track championship is going on right now and next week Gulf Shores will host 56 teams in the regional softball Championship. These sports tourism events increasingly bridge the gap between busy times.

“This whole tourism world is changing. People have the opportunity to really come at different times of the year. So our bell curve, which used to be flat, and then really big in the summer, and then really bad in the winter, it’s flattening out like crazy,” said Brown.

“It means the workforce is stabilized, businesses stay healthy, and those are all very important things to our economy,” said Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism President and CEO Beth Gendler.

Gendler says inventory has grown leaps and bounds in the last two years with more than 1,000 new rental units being built at the beach. She says they’ve started the year strong and bookings through summer are on pace to match last year, even as the nation faces troubling economic news.

“They can come here, and they can stay in any number of accommodations. So, they can glamp in the Gulf State Park. They can stay in a hotel. They can stay in a condo. They can stay in a beach house so they’re able to share expenses with family members or multi-generational or friends, and so it makes our destination a perfect destination in those economic uncertain times,” said Gendler.

Starting Friday, you can go watch tournament games in person. Tickets start at $35. You can also watch at home. Every match will stream live on ESPN2, except for the national championship, which will air on ESPN. Saturday night Wes Loper performs on the town green in Gulf Shores for a free concert.

This week, Alabama announced tourists spent a record breaking $23.9 billion last year in the state. That’s more than double what was spent in 2014, according to the state tourism department. The lodging tax revenue generated $88 million for the state’s general fund . Without it, each household in Alabama would have to pay an additional $700 in taxes to maintain current services, according to tourism officials.