Three Red Flash Men’s Volleyball Alumni Coaching In The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament

Men’s Volleyball | 12/4/2025 3:23:00 PM

The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament opens on Thursday, and the Saint Francis men’s volleyball team will have three alumni coaching in the tournament with Michael Fisher (Pitt), Dan Ford (Princeton), and Shaughn McDonald (Arizona State) each serving as an assistant for teams in the women’s volleyball dance.

Fisher is in his fourth season with Pitt and was elevated to an assistant coach in 2025 after two years as the Director of Operations and volunteer assistant coach in 2022. The Panthers are a No. 1 seed and will host UMBC at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, then face the winner of No. 8 Xavier-Michigan on Saturday at 7 p.m. if they beat the Retrievers. Fisher played for Saint Francis from 2017 to 2021 and is the only player in program history to be named an AVCA All-American twice, earning honorable mention honors in 2019 and 2021. The four-time All-EIVA selection is third in program history in kills (1,227), and he had 29 kills against No. 7 Stanford in a 3-2 win against the Cardinal on January 8, 2020, the fifth-most kills in program history.

Ford is in his second season as an assistant coach at Princeton. The Tigers are playing at No. 4 Southern California on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. With a win, Princeton would face the winner of No. 5 BYU-Cal Poly on Friday at 10 p.m. Ford played for Saint Francis from 2015-17 as a setter and was named to the All-EIVA team in his final two seasons in Loretto. He ranks fourth in program history in career assists (2,680) and sixth in single-season assists (1,067).

McDonald is in his second season with Arizona State. The Sun Devils are a No. 2 seed and will host Coppin State on Thursday at 9 p.m. With a win, Arizona State will battle the winner of No. 7 Tennessee-Utah State on Friday at 8 p.m. McDonald was an assistant coach under Red Flash women’s volleyball head coach Sara Spielvogel from 2021-22, helping Saint Francis start the run of five consecutive NEC Tournament berths. McDonald played on the Saint Francis men’s volleyball team from 2015 to 2018 and was named to the All-EVIA Academic team in 2016 and 2018.