Former Irvine Valley standout player Matt August has been named the new Benedictine Mesa men's volleyball coach.
"I am beyond excited to join the Benedictine family to help lead this amazing group of student-athletes," August said on the Benedictine website. "I am ready to help grow this sport more in the valley and create a culture that young student athletes want to be a part of.
"This program knows what it takes to succeed, and I am eager to lead the Redhawks to the top of NAIA Men's Volleyball once again. I want to say thank you to everyone at the athletic department and Charlie Averkamp for giving me this opportunity to lead this program to new heights."
August began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant with the University of Denver women's volleyball team, later becoming the first assistant for Grand Canyon University's men's volleyball team.
At GCU, he helped lead the Lopes to two straight NCAA tournament appearances, including one Final Four appearance, with an overall record of 48-13 during his tenure.
The Lopes made the Final Four this spring, falling to Long Beach State, 24-26, 26-28, 25-18, 25-23, 15-10, in a semifinal. GCU finished with a record of 26-5 overall.
August was a standout for the Irvine Valley during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Irvine Valley had a record of 15-4 overall in 2017 and 16-6 in 2018 and reached the California Community College Athletic Association semifinals.
The 6-9 middle blocker was named IVC's male athlete of the year at the end of the 2017-18 school year after two straight years of being named first team all-Oreange Empire Conference.
In 2018, August averaged 3.08 kills and 1.90 blocks per set, while hitting .454 on the year. He led the state in blocks per set, was second in hitting percentage and ranked 10th in kills per set.
August had 12 matches with double-digit kills for IVC. He hit .700 or higher in three matches in 2018.
After playing at Irvine Valley, he competed with the USA Men's National team and helped the squad to a silver medal from the NORCECA Cup in the summer of 2019. After one year of playing in the U.S. professional league, the NVA, and with the USA Men's national team the opportunity came to sign a contract overseas, in the Czech Republic. He played two seasons in the Czech Republic and one season in India.
In the fall of 2019, August headed to Brno, Czech Republic to start his professional career.
In just his first season abroad, he led his club, Volejbol Brno to a bronze medal finish in the Czech Extraliga while leading the team in blocks, and hitting percentage.
After an astounding first season, in the summer of 2020, August signed his second contract overseas with Black Volley Beskydy, also in the Czech Republic. This season led to August being a top three middle blocker in the league, while also leading his team in blocks.