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Hal Messersmith enters his sixth season as a member of the UAB volleyball staff in 2011, having held the titles both of volunteer assistant coach and director of volleyball operations. He was also tabbed in March 2011 to lead UAB's new sand volleyball program, which will begin competition in Spring 2012.
At UAB, Messersmith has been a part of the most successful span in program history, helping the Blazers to three 20-win seasons and two appearances in the NCAA tournament in his five years with the program.
Messersmith has worked with his wife, UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith, for the past 10 seasons. He spent five years with her on the staff at Georgia Southern prior to arriving at UAB in 2006.
"He has 25-plus years experience of coaching several different sports, but he's been coaching volleyball for the last 10 and does a great job," Kerry Messersmith said. "He studies the game and knows the game very well and technically is very sound. He's constantly studying the game. He watches film every day. He'll do a lot of scouting of opponents and gameplanning."
Additionally, Messersmith oversees the academic and financial aid aspects of the program. He organizes team travel and facilities scheduling while also coordinating all video operations for the Blazers.
In addition to his 10 seasons in collegiate volleyball, Messersmith has nearly 20 years of head coaching experience in college football, baseball and basketball. From the mid-1980s through 2001, he posted 17 winning seasons in those sports while graduating 95 percent of his student-athletes.
Messersmith's coaching experience includes stops at Chadron State, Allen County (Kan.) Community College, Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College and Arizona Western College.
