The College of the Rockies announced the hiring of a new head coach for the Avalanche men’s volleyball team for the 2017-2018 season on Thursday, bringing in Francisco (Cisco) Farrero.
Farrero most recently acted as the head coach of St. John’s, Newfoundland’s Memorial University Seahawks. He is set to replace departing Avs head coach Herb Tepper, who led the men’s side for a single season in 2016-17.
“We are very pleased to have Cisco joining our men’s Avalanche team this fall,” said COTR manager of student life and athletics Cori Andrichuk, in a team release. “His experience and commitment to volleyball will be of great benefit to our men’s program and we are excited about the new perspective he will bring.”
Farrero, who is originally from Meacham, Saskatchewan, grew up playing club and provincial level volleyball. In 2008, he began his coaching career when he was hired as an Assistant Coach with the Lakeland College Rustlers women’s program in Alberta.
During his time with Lakeland, the team earned spots in the conference championships every year, taking home the silver medal in 2012 -2013 as well as a silver at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championships that same season.
In addition to his varsity role, Farrero was also head coach of the Rustlers volleyball club from 2012 to 2014, seeing the team finish in tier one each year. During the 2014-2015 academic year, he was added as an assistant coach with Memorial’s women’s volleyball team.
In April 2015, Ferrero took over as head coach of the men’s volleyball team at Memorial, and helped reinvigorate the program before it was discontinued earlier this year.
“I am extremely excited about this opportunity to coach at College of the Rockies and to be a part of the Avalanche athletics family,” Ferrero said. “I look forward to instilling a foundation based on hard work, honesty, and execution and begin working toward challenging for PACWEST titles.”
Last season, the Avs men’s team made the conference postseason tournament after a fourth place (11-13) regular season finish, but lost in the first round to the eventual bronze medal champion Douglas College Royals in a five-set heartbreaker.
While the women’s team has undergone significant roster changes over the offseason, with at least seven departing players and 11 newcomer signings, the men’s team has not added any new recruits yet and only had three players announce that they were leaving at the end of last season.
Nevertheless, all three departures were significant, as captain Spencer Janzen, fellow middle blocker Duncan Sutherland, and star outside hitter Patrik Toze, made up a considerable portion of last year’s core.
The College of the Rockies Avalanche men’s team will officially kick off their 2017-18 season on Friday, October 20 as they host the Camosun Blues.