Former Rambler coaches Salukis

By Aaron Graff

One SIU assistant volleyball coach has roots with two other Missouri Valley Conference schools, but he wants to remain a Saluki.

Dean Torgerson graduated from Loyola University, where he was a setter for one season and coached both the men and women’s club teams. He played and coached the intramural men’s team to a second place finish in the D-1AA National Championship Tournament in 2008.

He said he ran the program for three years, which made him really get involved with coaching.

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He coached two years as the North Shore Assault Volleyball Club in Evanston before landing a graduate assistant position as a coach at Arkansas State University with coach Justin Ingram.

Ingram said when he was looking, he called as many qualified applicants as he could. He said it helped that Torgerson was from Racine, Wis., because that part of the country develops hard workers.

“It’s a very blue-collar place,” Ingram said. “He’s a son of a volleyball coach. He lives and breathes volleyball.”

Torgerson earned his master’s degree from Arkansas State after Ingram came to SIU. Torgerson was an assistant coach with the University of Evansville before reuniting with Ingram before last season.

“I think I’m a younger kind of version of [Ingram],” Torgerson said. “I know some of the things he knew at that time and he does a wonderful job trying to teach me about things he learned along the years.

Torgerson said it’s friendly rivalry between his former schools, and he is happy to see the player’s growth when Salukis play them.

Ingram said Torgerson’s youth is valuable to the team because the other coaches are more distant in age with the players.

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“You never want to hire people that are identical than you,” Ingram said. “I think there are some similarities in our approach. He’s far more analytical and way smarter than I am. This guy can read a book and build a spaceship. I think he’s that smart.”

That youth has also been valuable in practice, where Torgerson steps in for reps occasionally. The team has only two setters, sophomores Hannah Kaminsky and Meg Viggars. Viggars is also a hitter, so sometimes both setters are on one side of the court.

“When both of them are on the one side, I set the other side,” Torgerson said. “Just a mere lack of numbers. We don’t have a third setter to go in, so I go in and play because it’s easier than having someone who doesn’t set try to step in and set.”

Both Kaminsky and Viggars were named to the MVC All-Conference freshmen team, and Kaminsky is the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year.

“Coming from high school to college, it’s a big transition,” Kaminsky said. “From everything, from going to classes, to everyone you meet, to starting with a college team. I feel like [Torgerson] really helped with that transition right away.”

Kaminsky said Torgerson understands the setter position, so she gets most of her positional coaching from him.

Ingram said Torgerson has a great ability to connect with the players, and has potential with his coaching career.

“There is no money in it,” Ingram said. “Not for most people, up until you get to leading an incredible team into the finals of the NCAA or whatever. But, you need people that enjoy coaching and enjoy sport and enjoy mentoring, because that’s where the reward is.”

Torgerson said he would like to be a collegiate head coach some day, but he wants to stay for now.

“I’m just kind of taking it one day and one year at a time,” Torgerson said. “I’m blessed to be here for a second year and I hope I’m here for many years to come.”

Ingram said coaching staffs like this are special because of the ability to identify talent and recruit. He said he hopes the coaching staff sticks together for as long as possible.

“You always want to work with people that you trust,” Ingram said. “[Torgerson’s] one guy on my staff right now that I would give him the world and I would trust him with it.

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