Matt Sprague enters his fourth season in 2017 as an assistant coach with the NIU Volleyball program, where he primarily works with the Huskies middle blockers.
With a pair of Huskies, Jenna Radtke and Meg Wolowociz, that amassed over 100 blocks individually in 2017, NIU had one of its most successful seasons on the block in program history as it totaled 295 team blocks. The total was the ninth-highest in program history and led the Mid-American Conference in blocks per set (2.61) by over half a block (2.08).
While Radtke was the MAC's Player of the Year and a First Team All-MAC Selection, Lauren Zielinski and Wolowicz also garnered honors from the conference, collecting Honorable Mention All-MAC awards. Radtke also went on to repeat All-Midwest region honors from the AVCA.
In each of the last three seasons, NIU has won the MAC West Division title, claimed the program’s third-ever Mid-American Conference Championship in 2015 and a share of the regular season title in 2016. The Huskies won their first MAC Tournament in 15 seasons last November 2016 to make their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
During his second season with the program, NIU led the MAC in hitting percentage and finished top-50 in the country with a clip of .250. He also helped mentor First Team All-MAC middle blockers Jenna Radtke, who also earned AVCA All-Region honors, and Lauren Zielinski. Overall, he has helped guide five players to All-MAC or MAC All-Freshman honors as well.
Sprague came to NIU from Saint Louis, where he served as a volunteer assistant in 2013. At SLU, Sprague was a part of a staff that guided the Billikens to a 13-17 overall record and a 9-5 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference, in addition to earning the fourth seed in the A10 Tournament. The St. Louis native helped guide the team to a conference-leading .224 hitting percentage, while also assisting in scouting and recruiting for SLU.
He also served as the head coach of the High Performance STL Volleyball Club’s Boys 15-2 team, guiding the group to a national qualifier win and an open bid during his tenure. Sprague also helped High Performance STL’s Girls 18-1 team to the club’s first-ever girls open bid as an assistant.
In college, Sprague was an outside hitter on Ball State’s men’s volleyball team, where he served as the team captain for two seasons and totaled 454 kills and 339 digs. He earned a bachelor of science in business administration in 2010.
