Akron volleyball has seen continual growth under the tutelage of fourth-year head coach Ron Arenz. The Zips’ record has improved each season, and the program has again become a threat in the Mid-American Conference. Before his arrival, UA tallied just seven MAC wins from 2005-07. With Arenz, the Zips have notched 17 league victories since 2008.

Arenz has also coached three All-MAC performers, one each season, for the first conference honors for Akron since 2004. In addition, he has placed two student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC team and earned two AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) academic awards during his tenure.

Going 11-17 overall and 5-11 in the MAC during his first season (2008), Arenz immediately brought change to the Zips. The five league wins during his first year were the program’s most since 2004. He followed that success by grabbing a 14-18 overall record in 2009 while leading the squad to another season with five conference wins. Brionna Patterson was named to the All-MAC Second Team after leading the Zips with 492 kills for a 3.97 kills per set average.

The best was yet to come, as Akron posted a 15-17 record in 2010, as well as a 7-9 mark in the MAC, the most overall and league wins for UA since 2003. The Zips also recorded a win over perennial MAC champion Ohio in Athens for their first defeat of the Bobcats since 2003. Tina Dimitrijevs earned All-MAC Second Team honors as a junior after finishing the season with an impressive .367 hitting percentage in 83 sets played. She also made the All-MAC Freshman team in 2008.

"The leadership of the University of Akron has created a comprehensive environment for today's student-athlete," said Arenz. "The resources that the University provides our student-athletes increases opportunities for academic and athletic success. Compliment those resources with our membership in the very competitive Mid-American Conference, and you have a very attractive place for competitive student-athletes to develop into well-balanced young men and women. I believe success can be achieved in both academic and athletic realms without sacrificing one for the other, and the University of Akron provides that avenue."

Arenz was introduced as the ninth head coach in the history of the Akron volleyball program on Feb. 5, 2008. Arenz, who served as an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2002-04, joined the Zips family after guiding the University of West Alabama to a banner season in 2007.

In his second year at the helm, Arenz led the UWA Tigers to just their fourth winning season in the program's 29-year history with a 27-6 overall record (8-4 Gulf South Conference) last fall, marking a remarkable 18-match turnaround. UWA was ranked as high as 25th nationally in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Top 25 poll, cracking the elite group for the first time in school history.

The Tigers opened the 2007 campaign with a program-best 18-match winning streak and placed three players on the all-conference team, one on the all-region team and eight on the all-academic team.

"Ron Arenz turned our program around at light speed and he, his excellent staff and our great players all share in this recognition," said UWA Director of Athletics E. J. Brophy at the time of his hiring. "We will miss Ron dearly but greatly appreciate all the tireless work he has put into our volleyball program here at UWA. Akron is getting a gold mine in Coach Arenz."

Prior to his time at UWA, Arenz spent one season as an assistant coach at Michigan State University (2005-06), three seasons at Western Michigan (2002-04) and one season at the University of Denver (2001-02), all in the same capacity. During his tenure at the Division I level, he assisted in the development of one Big Ten, seven Mid-American and two Sun Belt all-conference selections.

"In my opinion, Ron Arenz is a perfect fit at the University of Akron," said Michigan State head coach Cathy George at the time of his hiring. "Ron has had experience as an assistant both in the MAC and the Big Ten which will serve him well in this transition. He clearly has demonstrated the ability to turn a program around as a head coach and will do an amazing job as he takes the reigns at the University of Akron."

Arenz began his career in the volleyball hotbed of the west coast for the California Juniors Volleyball Club in Long Beach, Calif. Serving both as head and assistant coach, his California Juniors teams won multiple championships in the 18- and 16-under divisions of the Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA).

"Akron is getting a terrific coach, but an even better person to lead their volleyball team," said WMU head coach Colleen Munson when he was hired to lead the Zips. "Ron has done a tremendous job in building the skills and confidence of the young women he coached at West Alabama. We look forward to having a coach with his integrity and knowledge of the sport in our league."

During that time, Arenz trained nine U.S. Junior Olympic All-American players, two Volleyball Magazine Fab-50 players and one U.S. Junior National Team member. Following his stint with the California Juniors, Arenz coached for the Colorado Foothills VBC in Denver, Colo. and the Dead Frogs of Kalamazoo, Mich.

In 2001, he coached the Dead Frogs team to a Michigan Regional 16-under Championship. He was selected to coach Michigan's inaugural Lakeshore Region High Performance team in the 2005 USAV High Performance National Championships.

Still spending time nurturing high school athletes while at Akron, Arenz coached the Ohio Valley Region High Performance Select team during the 2009 summer.

The Cerritos, Calif. native is a 1995 graduate of California State University - Long Beach, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Geography. He also received his Master of Education from National University in 2002.

Arenz and his wife, Noelle, reside in Akron, Ohio. The couple has one son, Jay.