Nate Kitrush will act as the team's volunteer assistant coach in 2011 after spending the last year as an assistant men[apos]s volleyball coach at his alma mater, IPFW. It is his second stint as a volunteer assistant coach with the Boilermakers, a position he also held during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
As an assistant with the Mastodons, Kitrush assisted with running practice drills and setter training. He also prepared scouting reports for each opponent and aided the team in video breakdown with Data Project software, while organizing tape exchange, practice schedules and travel plans.
Kitrush spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons as the director of volleyball operations at Penn State, organizing team travel, tape exchange, equipment and recruiting databases and providing video breakdown and analysis with Data Project as the team went on to a pair of national titles.
The Fort Wayne, Ind., native got his start in volleyball as a three-year letterwinner at Northrop High School. An all-conference and all-state honoree as a senior, he helped lead his team to the state tournament three times, including two appearances in the state finals.
Kitrush played one season at IPFW before turning his attention to the technical side of the game as a manager/technical assistant for the Mastodon, a role he served in for three years. He utilized Data Project software to break down opponents for scouting purposes. His efforts paid off as the team was ranked as high as eighth nationally and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2006.
In addition to his work at IPFW under head coach Arnie Ball, Kitrush coached at his high school alma mater for two seasons (2005 and 2006), helping guide the team to runner-up conference finishes both seasons as well as a sectional title.
During the 2005 campaign, he helped coach the Asics Munciana 17-1 Bulldogs to a third-place finish at the Junior Olympics. Kitrush also has gained experience coaching women's volleyball camps at IPFW, Penn State and Purdue and men's volleyball camps at Ohio State.
The son of Lori Kitrush, Nate graduated from IPFW in 2008 with a General Studies degree including minors in economics and communications.